The Petitioner, Rega Felix, after the panel petition revision hearing of the judicial review of Law No. 33 of 2014 on Halal Product Assurance, Tuesday (3/7/2023). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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Tuesday, March 7, 2023 | 14:54 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held the second judicial review hearing of Article 34 paragraph (2) of Law No. 33 of 2014 on Halal Product Assurance (JPH) and Article 48 points 19-20 of the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) No. 2 of 2022 on Job Creation, which contain amendment to Article 33 paragraph (5) and Article 33A paragraph (1) of the JPH Law. The petition revision hearing for case No. 18/PUU-XXI/2023 took place on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Rega Felix, owner of culinary business “Felix Burger,” attended the hearing on site in the plenary courtroom.

The Petitioner had revised his profile, the Court’s jurisdiction, and the writing of the articles being petitioned. He also significantly changed the reason for legal avenues by businesspeople through the religious court. He also strengthened his argument by adding touchstones: Article 28E paragraph (2) and Article 29 paragraphs (1) and (2) of the 1945 Constitution, to explain why any dispute on halalness must be judged by the religious court.

“The Petitioner also added relevant examples of halal labeling on products. In this case, the dilemma is that because of the establishment of the Halal Product Fatwa Committee, [the halal fatwa] that is the state administrative court’s jurisdiction is now the religious court’s jurisdiction. The Petitioner assumes that the expansion of the religious court’s jurisdiction in settling halal disputes will make be easier than that of the state administrative court’s jurisdiction. This is because the religious court is used to dealing with Islamic law and fiqh books. So, if the jurisdiction stays with the state administrative court, there must be more human resources and they must be familiar with Islamic law,” the Petitioner said before Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat (chair), Wahiduddin Adams, and Saldi Isra.

Also read: Provision on Halal Fatwa Questioned

At the preliminary hearing on Wednesday, February 22, the Petitioner revealed that many customers questioned the halalness of his western culinary business’ burger and hotdog. He then tried to apply for a halal certification. However, one of the conditions for the Halal Assurance System 23000 (HAS 23000) is “The brand/name of product cannot use any name that refers to something that is declared haram or to any type of worship that is not in line with Islamic sharia.”

He believes the halal fatwa cannot be challenged despite its subjectivity, so there could be double standards on how a brand/name of product can be interpreted as halal or haram, thus leading to different interpretations of a brand/product name. Not to mention, the Job Creation Perppu mentions a new institution, the Halal Product Fatwa Committee, outside of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), whose halal fatwa has met the requirements as a state administrative decree.

In the petitum, the Petitioner requested that the Court declare Article 34 paragraph (2) of the JPH Law unconstitutional and not legally binding conditionally if not interpreted “halal fatwa that declares a product not halal can be challenged legally through the Religious Court;” declare Article 48 point 19 of the Job Creation Perppu, which contains amendment to Article 33 paragraph (5) of the JPH Law, unconstitutional and not legally binding conditionally if not interpreted “the decision of the Halal Product Fatwa Committee can be challenged legally through the Religious Court;” Article 48 point 20 of the Job Creation Perppu, which contains amendment to Article 33A paragraph (1) of the JPH Law, unconstitutional and not legally binding conditionally if not interpreted “the decision of the Halal Product Fatwa Committee can be challenged legally through the Religious Court.” 

Author       : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Nur R.
PR            : Andhini S. F.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 3/8/2023 15:43 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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