Chief Justice Anwar Usman speaking at the special education and training for professional advocates (DKPA) by the Congress of Indonesian Advocates (KAI) and Pasundan University Bandung, Saturday (9/24/2022). Photo by MKRI/Hamdi.

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Saturday, September 24, 2022 | 19:33 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI) — Chief Justice Anwar Usman delivered a presentation at the special education and training for professional advocates (DKPA) Batch XVI by the Congress of Indonesian Advocates (KAI) and Pasundan University (Unpas) Bandung on Saturday, September 24, 2022 on site at Grand Hotel Preanger Bandung, West Java. He talked about the Constitutional Court’s (MK) authorities.

He said that based on Article 24C of the 1945 Constitution, the Court has four authorities and one obligation. A citizen who feels that their constitutional rights had been violated by the enactment of a law can petition the law to the Constitutional Court.

“A law resulting from months of discussion between 575 members of the House of Representatives (DPR) along with the president, assisted by his ministers, can be declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court with a request from a citizen,” he added.

He further said that the next authority of the Court granted by the 1945 Constitution is to decide the dissolution of political parties. He added that in the past, there was a political party the president had requested to dissolve. With the amendment to the 1945 Constitution, such an action can only be carried out in the Constitutional Court with a request by the president.

The Court also has the authority to decide disputes over the authority of state institutions whose authority is granted by the 1945 Constitution, for example if the president issues a regulation on cassation while it is under the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction.

The fourth authority is to decide disputes over general election results. Article 24C paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution also stipulates that the Constitutional Court has an obligation to give a decision on the opinion of the House on an alleged violation by the president and/or vice president according to the Constitution.

Chief Justice Anwar explained that impeaching the president and/or vice president is very difficult. Before the petition is filed to the Constitutional Court, the House must convene and make a quorum of two-thirds of the members. When they declare the president and/or vice president guilty, they file a petition to the Constitutional Court. If the Constitutional Court declare the president and/or vice president to have committed a violation, the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) will decide it in accordance with statutory legislation. The chief justice added that the Constitutional Court can only adjudicate a case lodged to it.

He also explained that the Court also has an additional authority granted by Article 157 paragraph (3) of Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Regional Election. The Constitutional Court is tasked with settling regional election disputes until a special judicial body is formed.

He also talked about the Court’s procedural law briefly. The judicial review in the Constitutional Court may be formal and/or material. Material judicial review concerns the content of articles, paragraphs, or part of laws that are deemed in conflict with the 1945 Constitution. Meanwhile, formal judicial review concerns the lawmaking process and matters outside of the material review. 

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

Translation uploaded on 11/17/2022 15:17 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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