Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah officially closing the SKLN bimtek for Peradi, Thursday (9/8/2022). Photo by MKRI/Teguh Birawa.

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Thursday, September 8, 2022 | 16:11 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI)—Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah officially closed the technical assistance program (bimtek) on authority disputes between state institutions (SKLN) for the management and members of the Association of Indonesian Advocates (Peradi) on Thursday, September 8, 2022.

He said virtually that the Court help protect the citizens’ constitutional rights, which he believes to be a noble duty. He hoped the bimtek program would be beneficial for all of the participants. He also hoped that the quality of the program would continue to improve. “If there’s anything that requires improvement, don’t hesitate to give us recommendation directly to the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center or on the Constitutional Court’s website,” he said.

There have not been many SKLN cases, Guntur said, but they had considerable magnitude since two state institutions were in dispute. Therefore, the Constitutional Court must resolve them. He added that it is important to understand why SKLN cases must be resolved by the Constitutional Court. This is because there needs to be checks and balances.

He also explained the state administration, where several state institutions are granted authority by the 1945 Constitution. The executive (the president, the ministers, and other state agencies), the legislative (the MPR, the DPR, the DPD), and the judiciary (the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, and the Judicial Commission) are all equal.

Guntur also talked about digital constitutionalism. The Constitutional Court continues to build systems digitally. For example, it allows people to file a petition to the Court without having to come to the Court in person, thus cutting costs.

Also read: 

Not All State Agencies’ Authorities Come from Constitution 

Constitution Needs Independent Interpreter

Peradi Advocates Learn Subject and Object in SKLN Petition 

Electronic Petition Information System

On this last day and session of the bimtek, the advocates were encouraged to understand the Court’s electronic petition information system (SIMPEL). Computer officers of the Court’s Center for Information and Communication Technology M. Ridho Ihsan and Rudi Kurniawan explained virtually that information and communications technology (ICT) has been part of the Court’s services and is used to make access easier for litigants. More importantly, he said, the Center for ICT uses several security systems such as Paloalto, the first firewall to prevent attacks on the networking system; Iron Port to check and filter emails against malware, virus, spam, and so on; anti DDOS; and a mirroring server to back up the server in case it is down.

“The Court cooperates with [the National Cyber and Encryption Agency (BSSN)] in security in terms of web application firewall, digital signature, security monitoring, and HR if there are issues that the Court cannot handle on its own,” Ridho explained when sharing his experience as part of the IT team that handles online and offline hearings in the Constitutional Court.

He revealed that the Court had been conducting remote hearings since 2004, first by borrowing a video conferencing system by the Police. It also cooperated with 53 universities throughout Indonesia to allow those living far from Jakarta and had time constraint to appear before the Court at a designated university. During the pandemic, the Court still conduct hearings remotely to adhere to the health protocol, with requirements that all parties must comply with—stable internet connection, good lighting, adequate electronic media, and electronic devices in silent mode. 

Writer        : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Nur R.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 11/9/2022 11:31 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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