---

Thursday, October 6, 2022 | 14:05 WIB

BALI (MKRI)—Former constitutional justice of 2003-2008 and 2015-2020 I Dewa Gede Palguna moderated the discussion in the 5th Indonesian Constitutional Court International Symposium (ICCIS) at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Bali on Thursday, October 6, 2022. The symposium featured Professor Woo-Young Rhee from Seoul National University School of Law; Dr. Ann Black from the University of Queensland; and Professor Bayu Dwi Anggono, Rian Adhivira Prabowo, and Nando Yussele Mardika from Jember University as speakers.

In her presentation entitled “Exporting a Constitutional Court to Brunei: An Analysis of Benefits and Prospects,” Ann Black explained the concept of the sultan as the head of the state, the kingdom and the state advisory council, as well as the absence of a constitutional court to safeguard the citizens’ constitutional rights. Until today, Brunei is one of the few lasting absolute monarchies in the world. The Sultan of Brunei seemed to be above the law and became a state legislator because he can amend the Constitution.

In addition, constitutional review of the national laws was abolished in Brunei in 2004. Therefore, although it is a rich and prosperous country, the people of Brunei do not have freedom including freedom of speech, press, association, or religion. Dr. Black said Brunei’s Constitution states that an emergency government can handed over all of its power to the Sultan without an effective checks-and-balances mechanism. The law is still effective and its implementation has not yet been determined legally. Therefore, it will be the Constitutional Court’s first task to advocate for it.

“It will lead Brunei to be constitutional monarchy and no longer an absolute monarchy. It will also give its citizens their rights, which will have an impact on their lives,” she remarked. Engin Yıldırım of the Constitutional Court of Türkiye and Abdul Ghoffar from the MKRI acted as responders.

Individual Constitutional Complaints

Meanwhile, Prof. Woo-Young Rhee from Seoul National University School of Law presented a paper entitled “Constitutional Adjudication on Constitutional Complaint as an Institution for Fundamental Rights Protection: The Case of the Republic of Korea”.

Prof. Rhee said that the revision of the constitution in 1987 was a watershed that brought about democratization and increased of protection of constitutional rights in Korea. Since the establishment of the Korean Constitutional Court in 1988, its decisions have been instrumental in furthering the ideas of democratization and respect for fundamental rights in the country. The constitutional revision led to changes in the formation of constitutional adjudication on constitutional complaints.

The Constitutional Court, she added, carries out its duty in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the Constitutional Court Act. The Constitutional Court of Korea limits the standing to file constitutional complaints to those petitioners whose own fundamental rights are directly infringed by the measures taken by the government or public authority. The law and practice pertaining to constitutional adjudication on constitutional complaint in Korea have increasingly required and incrementally fortified the objective or public interest nature of the constitutional adjudication based on constitutional complaint, on top of its unique aspect as the constitutional adjudication available to private individuals.

Prof. Bayu Dwi Anggono, Rian Adhivira Prabowo, and Nando Yussele Mardika from the University of Jember presented the last paper for the session, entitled “Constitutional Court and Conflict Resolution: Modality and Trajectory in Indonesia Post-Authoritarian Regime” while Zsolt Szabó from the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church, Hungary and Intan Permata Putri from the MKRI acted as responders.

The 5th ICCIS is a side event of the 5th Congress of the WCCJ and takes place on Wednesday-Thursday, October 5-6, 2022. Through the 5th ICCIS, the MKRI called on all academics, practitioners, and legal researchers to discuss various perspectives in strengthening the Constitutional Court’s roles. Topics discussed during the event were “Constitutional Interpretation Relating to Peace and Reconciliation,” “The Role of Constitutional Courts in Adjudicating Cases Relating to Social and Political Conflicts,” “The protection of Human Rights and Democracy by the Constitutional Courts to Settle Conflicts,” and “Constitutional Courts as Mediators in Armed Conflict and Civil-Military Relations.”

Writer        : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Tiara Agustina
Translator  : Alfhatin Pratama
Editor        : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 10/7/2022 09:53 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

---