Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo giving a public lecture at the Law Faculty of Ahmad Dahlan University, Friday (3/17/2023). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

---

Friday, March 17, 2023 | 15:49 WIB

YOGYAKARTA (MKRI) — What is really the role of the Constitutional Court (MK) in guarding the 1945 Constitution? Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo answered the question in person at a public lecture at the Law Faculty of Ahmad Dahlan University on Friday, March 17, 2023 at Campus 4 of Ahmad Dahlan University, Yogyakarta. Ahmad Dahlan University Rector Muchlas and Law Faculty Dean Megawati were in attendance.

Justice Suhartoyo explained this to the students by explaining the formation of the world’s constitutional court, starting from the Supreme Court of the United States, followed by others, including Indonesia. He then explained the history of Indonesia’s Constitution since the 1945 Constitution.

“The Constitution grants all citizens rights, which are regulated in the 1945 Constitution. If any citizens are harmed due to the enactment of Law, this is where the Constitutional Court acts,” he said.

He also explained that citizens may file a judicial review petition of any law, be it the entire law or certain articles, but not all citizens would have the legal standing to do so. Indonesian citizens, customary law communities, private and public legal entities, and state institutions can file a petition to the Court, but only if they have legal standing. To be declared having legal standing, they must be able to prove that their constitutional rights/authority have been harmed by the enactment of the law.

“There must also be specific constitutional impairment that [is caused by the enactment of the law] and there must be possibility that if the petition is granted, such impairment will not occur again,” Justice Suhartoyo explained.

A student named Muhammad Iqbal asked a critical question to the justice: if any justice concerns themselves or their relatives, can they still adjudicate the case? Justice Suhartoyo expressly answered that all judges, including constitutional justices, must be free of conflict of interest while deciding all cases. This, he said, is also regulated in the code of ethics of constitutional justices.

Student Geri Jordi expressed his enthusiasm for the lecture as he could meet a constitutional justice and said his opinion in person. He talked about laws that the Constitutional Court had annulled but are still in force in society.

At the end of the lecture, moderator Satria Abdi conveyed the essence of the lecture and expressed his hope that the Constitution would live, grow, and develop along with the Constitutional Court.

Author       : Tiara Agustina
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

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 prevai

---