President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo opened the 5th Congress of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice (WCCJ), Wednesday, (10/5/2022) at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Bali. Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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Wednesday, October 5, 2022 | 19:53 WIB

BALI (MKRI)—President Joko Widodo (affectionally nicknamed Jokowi) officially opened the 5th Congress of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice (WCCJ) on Wednesday evening, October 5, 2022 at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center (BNDCC), Bali. He urged the participants from 95 countries and 4 organizations to realize the importance of peacemaking in the efforts of solving global crisis and building constitutional justice. He hoped that the 5th Congress of WCCJ can be a forum for sharing ideas and experiences. “I hope there will be a multinational joint effort in establishing constitutional fairness and facing the crisis together,” he said.

President Jokowi went on by saying that the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia (MKRI) is the main pillar in upholding constitutional justice, which is a key element of democracy, protection of human rights, and legal certainty. “However, your duties as constitutional justices as well as our collective duties have become harder. Every country in the world have to deal with various crises. The pandemic has not yet ended, the world economy has not fully recovered, the world is shocked by the war Russia waged against Ukraine, which has devastated world supply chains,” he said.

He also said that the energy and financial crisis is undeniable. The countries attending the Congress must also be facing the crisis. Furthermore, he underlined that the ongoing war will lead to ongoing crises.

“Of course, we want for the war to stop and peace to be established. We must work together to stop war and build peace. Nevertheless, we must also be prepared to mitigate and manage the crisis as well as possible. In addition to fighting for constitutional justice, each country has to find a silver lining from the crisis they are facing,” he urged.

Contribution to the World

Meanwhile, Chief Justice of the MKRI Anwar Usman explained that the 5th Congress of the WCCJ is a perfect momentum to make a great contribution for all mankind and nations throughout the world. He said that the Congress’ theme is highly relevant to discuss as a form of joint contribution in creating peace and justice for the nations in the world.

“Peace and constitutional justice are, in fact, truly desired by all mankind without exception. And, the Constitution, of course, regulates this, so that peace and justice can be realized,” he asserted.

He also conveyed that the Constitutional Court and constitutional judicial institutions are established to ensure that the values of the constitution​​ can be upheld and realized.

“If the constitutional norms, that have become the basic norms of the state, are not obeyed and implemented, they will only be good on paper. And, if the constitutional norms are not obeyed and implemented, it is a renunciation of constitutional values,” he said.

Chief Justice Anwar also said that the constitution in various countries has its own characteristics, nature, and attributes. However, there are also common universal values. “The theme of this Congress, ‘Peace and Constitutional Justice,’ is the common values for all of us who gather today. In other words, through the theme of the Congress, we understand that it is our collective obligation to foster peace and constitutional justice and to try our best to make it happen,” he said.

Meanwhile, President Emeritus of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio expressed his gratitude to the MKRI for successfully holding the 5th Congress of the WCCJ.

“Looking back on the meeting in Cape Town, we did not expect that the WCCJ, which initially only consisted of 60 countries in 2009, has now grown to 119 countries as per 2022,” he said.

He also said that the 5th Congress also aims to promote the sharing of experiences among constitutional courts in maintaining world peace. He hopes that each participating country can work together in maintaining peace and upholding constitutional justice.

The 5th Congress of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice (WCCJ), which takes place on October 5-6, 2022, was slated to be inaugurated by President Joko Widodo on October 5. The WCCJ Bureau chose “Constitutional Justice and Peace” as the main theme of this year’s congress because constitutional courts in some countries have key roles in seeking peace after armed conflict within the country. In addition, several national constitutions explicitly mention peace and reconciliation as the goals that they want to achieve.

The 5th Congress of the WCCJ is the highest-level international forum on the constitutional jurisdictions, considering that 119 countries are members of the WCCJ as per 2022. In addition to being a forum for discussion, exchange of ideas, sharing of experiences and best practices among WCCJ members, this Congress is one of the MKRI’s efforts to improve the quality of its decisions as well as an opportunity to further strengthen Indonesia’s position as a constitutional democracy based on the ideology of the five precepts of Pancasila.

At the same time, the Constitutional Court also holds the 5th Indonesian Constitutional Court International Symposium (ICCIS) on October 5-7, 2022 under the theme of “Constitutional Court and Conflict Resolution.” Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo is slated to deliver the opening remarks, followed by a keynote lecture from Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra. In the ICCIS, 15 speakers from various countries are scheduled to present their perspective and views related to the themes. Accordingly, the ICCIS will conclude with closing remarks by Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic Pancastaki Foekh.

Writer        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Ahmad Yusuf
Editor        : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 10/6/2022 17:13 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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