The Constitutional Court and the Institute for Rural Community Development “APMD” inaugurating a smartboard mini courtroom for remote hearings, Friday (3/10/2023) in Yogyakarta. Photo by MKRI/Panji.

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Friday, March 10, 2023 | 17:27 WIB

(MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) collaborated with the Institute for Rural Community Development (STPMD) “APMD” to inaugurate a smartboard mini courtroom for remote hearings and to hold a national seminar on in Yogyakarta. Constitutional Justice Wahiduddin Adams and STPMD “APMD” Chairman Sutoro Eko Yunanto delivered presentations.

Justice Wahiduddin hoped that the smartboard mini courtroom that the Court gifted would facilitate teaching-learning process and help instill constitutional awareness in the students and faculty members.

In the national seminar on “Representing Local Community’s Interest for Fair and Prosperous Villages,” he talked about the supporting norms of rural development. The village is the smallest unit of the state that is dynamic. It is regulated in Law No. 6 of 2014 on Villages. The Law, he said, is a legal measure for the development of rural communities. The implementation is regulated in Government Regulation No. 43 of 2014 on the Implementing Regulation of Law No. 6 of 2014 on Villages. It regulates the village administration and development.

“Through this norm, the village becomes a basis for community development, where all activities for its advances is left at the hands of the people in order to create a fair and prosperous community for all villagers,” he explained alongside APMD’s lecturer Fatih Gama as moderator.

Justice Wahiduddin said the village could create provisions to fit the development of its residents. It could create a norm on criminal justice, seeing that it might need a firm legal norm to create order. It could also make provisions on development budget and for training on village finances. However, he warned, this empowerment must be in harmony with the Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions,
and Transmigration, so that the people’s participation in developing the village stay within the agreed norms.

“The Law says that the village serves to realize an empowered, advanced, prosperous village without any loss to its character. The elucidation to the Law expressly said that. Even if we became advanced, empowered, prosperous, without our character, it wouldn’t be easy. So, we need to find the criteria, to maintain it, and to remember our identity—how to develop the village with the basic capital and potential of the local people toward advancement, empowerment, welfare, but without losing character,” he concluded.

Position of Village

In the Q&A session, a participant asked the village’s position within in administration, and whether it is inferior to the regency government. Justice Wahiduddin said that, based on the Village Law, which explains the village apparatuses and system, said that the responsibility falls to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

“Village chiefs are elected, not appointed, so the concept is how to make the village empowered, prosperous, and fair. We can see how the people’s welfare are sought, where the administration is no longer centralized but decentralized through regional autonomy, which has changed the implementation of policies. As such, the village can manage its potential for the sake of advancement,” he explained.

Author       : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Nur R.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 3/15/2023 14:46 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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