Petitioner Zico Leonard Djagardo conveying revisions to the petition at the judicial review hearing of Law No. 7 of 2020 on the Constitutional Court, Wednesday (3/1/2023). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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Wednesday, March 1, 2023 | 15:56 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held a second judicial review hearing of Article 23 paragraphs (1) and (2) and Article 27A paragraph (2) of Law No. 7 of 2020 on the Third Amendment to Law No. 24 of 2003 on the Constitutional Court. The panel hearing, presided over by Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh (chair), Wahiduddin Adams, and Suhartoyo took place on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. The case No. 17/PUU-XXI/2023 was filed by dvocate Zico Leonard Djagardo Simanjuntak.

On this petition revision hearing, the Petitioner conveyed the revisions to his petition, such as the provisional petitum on the recusal of a few justices, given that the case is related the replacement of former justice Aswanto by Constitutional Justice M. Guntur Hamzah. Thus, the Petitioner believes the justice in question should not adjudicate the case. The Petitioner also added the Presidential Decree (Keppres) No. 114/P/2022 on the dismissal and appointment of constitutional justices.

“The dismissal of Constitutional Justice Aswanto is closely related to the keppres. It is purely political, without any clear legal basis. Therefore, the dismissal of Constitutional Justice Aswanto or the evaluation of [constitutional] justices is a form of constitutional disobedience, so it cannot be justified. This shows that the Constitution is no longer a commander,” said Simanjuntak, who attended the hearing on site.

Also read: Constitutional Justice’s Dismissal and Change to Constitutional Court Decision Questioned

At the preliminary hearing on Thursday, February 16, Petitioner Zico Leonard Djagardo Simanjuntak said that as a litigant, he would need the constitutional justices’ independence in handing down rulings. So, the House of Representatives’ (DPR) interference by replacing a constitutional justice that they had previously endorsed has violated his constitutional right to justice through the independent judiciary. The Constitutional Court’s independence, he asserted, has been undermined by the House’s dismissal of one of the constitutional justices.

He revealed his surprise when watching the recording of the ruling hearing for case No. 103/PUU-XX/2022 and reading both the decision and the hearing’s transcript and finding a stark difference between the verdict and the decision file and transcript uploaded on the Court’s website. He was certain that this was intended for the benefit of certain parties. He is also trying to find out who the perpetrators are by bringing this case to authorities through legal action.

In the provisional petitum, he requested that the Court recuse Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat and M. Guntur Hamzah and Chief Registrar Muhidin from the case. Meanwhile, in the petitum on the subject matter, he requested that the Court declare Article 23 paragraph (1) of the Constitutional Court Law unconstitutional and not legally binding conditionally if not interpreted “including the recall by the nominating institution on the ground of dislike for annulling the nominating institution’s products,” Article 23 paragraph (2) unconstitutional and not legally binding conditionally if not interpreted “including changing the substance of a decision that has been read out in a hearing that is open to public.”

Writer        : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Nur R.
PR            : Tiara Agustina
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 3/3/2023 21:42 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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