Acting Secretary-General Heru Setiawan presenting his report at the launch and review of 33 books in the Constitutional Court, Thursday (12/15/2022). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.
Friday, December 16, 2022 | 10:39 WIB
JAKARTA (MKRI) — In commemoration of the 19th anniversary of the Constitutional Court in 2022, the Center for Research, Case Review, and Library Management of the Constitutional Court (MK) launched and reviewed 33 books published by the Court on Thursday, December 15, 2022 at the hall of its main building. The event was officially opened by Chief Justice Anwar Usman before the constitutional justices, acting Secretary-General Heru Setiawan, chief registrar Muhidin, chairman of the State Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court Yulius, law professor of Padjadjaran University Bagir Manan, and structural and functional officials in the Registrar’s Office and the Secretariat-General of the Constitutional Court.
Chief Justice Anwar Usman said the book launching and review is an annual agenda for the Court for the advancement of national literature and the dissemination of legal and constitutional developments. It also serves as a forum for the Court’s justices and staff to express their interest in writing. If this book publishing and launch be a culture in the Court, he said, the Court will have succeeded in shifting the culture of speaking to that of writing. To carry out such a cultural shift, consistency and continuity are needed to promote the changing of old habits to new ones.
He admitted that book writing is not easy as it takes sincerity, patience, and perseverance to put thoughts into writing. Expressing ideas, experiences, and insights into a book is a real contribution.
“For the institution guarding the Constitution, writing and launching books is also a form of upholding the constitutional mandate to educate the nation,” he said.
Maintaining Academic Atmosphere
Acting Secretary-General Heru Setiawan said in his report that throughout 2019–2021, the Court has published 82 books by sitting constitutional justices, former constitutional justices, and staff. Despite the pandemic, productivity did not stop, even increased, so until 2022 the Court has published 115 books.
Heru further revealed that the launching began from the Court’s desire to maintain and strengthen the academic atmosphere and intellectual culture in the Constitutional Court.
Good Tradition
Constitutional law professor of Padjadjaran University Bagir Manan gave a keynote speech at the event. He said in writing books, scholars face the challenge of either the lack of material due to limited information, too much material that makes it difficult to choose what to write, and the lack of compensation for writing books. It has then become a channel for expressing idealism and sharing knowledge with others.
“So, I have a lot of appreciation for writers who still take the time to write books. Although there might be [little] reward in this world, [hopefully you will] be rewarded in the hereafter. I’d like to express special appreciation to the Constitutional Court, who pioneered [the publishing] from the start, then made it a tradition to publish books by accepting manuscripts from experts. This is a very good tradition,” he said.
He also requested that after the publishing, the Court make these books public property so they can be read and owned by everyone. He also hoped they can be open to the public in the Court’s library in the future to serve as extraordinary sources of knowledge for everyone. He also appealed to constitutional justices and scholars to continue the tradition.
“Don’t think about the benefits of these books now, but 50 years from now. Like Plato’s, which was written 2,000 years ago. Ideas know no time limit. Once again, I appreciate the Constitutional Court for instilling this habit not only as a routine, but for expressing ideas in an extraordinary way,” he said.
Book Review
The book review session was moderated by Pan Mohamad Faiz, one of the Court’s expert assistants for constitutional justices. The speakers during the session were former constitutional justice for 2003-2008 and 2015-2020 I Dewa Gede Palguna, constitutional law professor of the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII) Ni’matul Huda, and deputy dean of the Faculty of Law of Andalas University Khairul Fahmi. They expressed their views on these books on law, constitution, and democracy.
Ni’matul Huda talked about Pemilukada Asimetris: Sebuah Penerapan Demokrasi Deliberatif di Provinsi Papua (“Asymmetric Regional Elections: An Implementation of Deliberative Democracy in Papua Province”) by Rahadian Prima Nugraha, Transformasi Sistem Pemilihan Presiden Pasca Reformasi: Dinamika Pertanggungjawaban dan Pemberhentian (“The Transformation of the Post-Reform Presidential Election System: Dynamics of Accountability and Dismissal”) by Mohammad Mahrus Ali and Melisa Fitria, and Pancasila Sebagai Sumber Hukum Negara: Penerapan Hukum Progresif Dalam Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi (“Pancasila as a Source of State Law: Application of Progressive Law in Constitutional Court Decisions”) by Jimly Asshiddiqie, Anna Triningsih, and Achmad Edi Subiyanto.
“There have been books under the same theme as Rahadian’s, but that focuses on Sumatera, while his focuses on Papua, so this can provide us with a new perspective on direct general elections, which can break up relationships within one family. From the book, we can respond to and examine further Article 18B paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution,” he said.
Meanwhile, Khairul Fahmi hoped the 33 books, which are concrete manifestation of ideas within the Constitutional Court, would become a collection for academics. The “insider’s insights” would be material for researchers in studying law, constitution, procedural law, and democracy.
“The interesting thing about these books by Constitutional Court authors are the studies of comparative law. These books are supporting material, not textbooks, for students,” he said.
Meanwhile, former constitutional justice I Dewa Gede Palguna highlighted that the books can enrich Indonesia’s legal literature. “In order to make the Constitutional Court a trusted modern judicial institution, keep publishing books,” he advised while delivering closing remarks for the book review event, which some 400 online participants from various backgrounds attended.
Writer : Sri Pujianti
Editor : Nur R.
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Translation uploaded on 12/26/2022 10:38 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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