Constitutional Justice M. Guntur Hamzah speaking at the Faculty of Sharia and Law of UIN Alauddin Makassar, Sunday (3/19/2023). Photo by MKRI/Agung Sumarna.

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Sunday, March 19, 2023 | 10:47 WIB

(MKRI) — Constitutional Justice M. Guntur Hamzah talked about the procedural law for judicial review in the Constitutional Court to 26 participants of a training for professional advocates (PKPA) on “The Constitutional Court’s Procedural Law” organized by the Faculty of Sharia and Law of UIN (State Islamic University) Alauddin Makassar and the Association of Indonesian Advocates (Peradi) on Sunday, March 19, 2023.

He began his presentation by quoting Albert Einstein: The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it; only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are the constitutional rights secure. He asserted that law also concerns accuracy, or what is known as legal certainty. In a constitution, norms guarantee legal certainty for its citizens. So, its strength is determined by the citizens’ opportunity to fight for and express their constitutional rights.

Guntur advised the prospective advocates that as future defenders of justice seekers, they should not base their legal assistance on how much they receive. He urged them to work following code of ethics despite doing work pro bono.

“You must give your all when providing legal assistance, although pro bono, because you are representatives of justice seekers. So, do not judge your transactions with clients. It would be inappropriate for you to prioritize that,” he advised.

Reading Up on Cases

Guntur also recommended that the prospective advocates read up on a variety of legal cases since advocates not only focus on articles of the law and legal theories, but must also hone their analytic skills by understanding current legal cases.

“Only those who are familiar with cases who will be able to elaborate when giving legal assistance, so their analysis will be more accurate with concrete approaches in settling legal cases as expected by justice seekers,” he said.

In his lecture, he talked about rights under the Constitution. The 1945 Constitution, he said, not only covers universal human rights but also constitutional rights, all sixty-six of them. The Constitutional Court then plays its role to guard the citizens’ constitutional rights through its final decisions that bind all citizens.

Advocates who litigate in the Constitutional Court, he said, do not have to bring paper documents. They only have to access simpel.mkri.id to file a petition. Advocates can also download Click MK application and file a petition through their mobile phones. “This is why the Constitutional Court is a modern judicial institution. With such breakthroughs, it offers the litigating parties convenience,” he said.

Author       : Sri Pujianti
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 prevail.

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