Chief Justice Anwar Usman laying the first stone of the second campus of Muhammadiyah University of Bima in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, Saturday (4/28/2023). Photo by MKRI/Hamdi.

---

BIMA (MKRI) — Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MKRI) Anwar Usman laid the first stone of the second campus of Muhammadiyah University of Bima (UM Bima) in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara Province on Saturday, April 28, 2023 in person.

In his remarks, he said that when a judge decides to perform ijtihad (to rationalize), they will get one merit. “However, if they rule incorrectly on purpose, they will still receive one merit. And if their ruling is correct, the merit doubles, one for the ijtihad and one for the correct ruling,” he said before the academics of UM Bima.

He added that before handing down a ruling, a judge must perform ijtihad and hope for a correct ruling according to the Almighty God. He also said that judges may not be able to make a ruling that satisfies everyone. “I hold on to Surah An Nisa verse 58, which reads, ‘when you judge between people, you judge with justice.’ What is a just [ruling]? A just decision comes from one’s conscience,” the chief justice said.

Chief Justice Anwar Usman said that Mahatma Gandhi once said there is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. This quote, he said, applies to everyone. “Not only in adjudicating formally. That is the meaning of justice based on honesty. However, judges also rule based on facts during trials, not on rumors. If judges pass rulings based on rumors, the state will be ruined,” he said.

Also read: MoU signed between The Court and UM Bima

On Saturday, February 11, the Constitutional Court made its partnership with UM Bima official through the signing of a memorandum of understanding by the Acting Secretary-General Heru Setiawan and UM Bima Rector Ridwan, witnessed by Chief Justice Anwar Usman.

Author       : Hamdi
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.

---