Expert assistant to constitutional justice Bisariyadi welcoming law students of Sahid University Jakarta, Wednesday (6/21/2023). Photo by Humas MK/Panji.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) welcomed law students of Sahid University Jakarta on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at the Court’s main hall. They students were welcome by expert assistant to constitutional justice Bisariyadi. Their visit started with a Q&A session, where a student asked whether it is possible to review a word in a law formally.

Bisariyadi said the legislation does not stipulate that a word can be formally or normatively reviewed, but paragraphs, articles, and parts of a law can. However, a law is expressed in words. “So, even one word can be reviewed, because it can create multiple interpretations. Usually the most common are connecting words such as ‘and,’ ‘or,’ and numbers,” he explained.

He also said that Law No. 24 of 2003 on the Constitutional Court has been amended four times, but several parts of it was annulled. He also conveyed the difference between judicial review and constitutional review, i.e. the authority of a state institution.

“Judicial review is carried out by the court, be it the Constitutional Court or the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, constitutional review is carried out based on the Constitution, which can only be done by the Constitutional Court, who can decide the judicial review of laws against the 1945 Constitution,” he said.

Bisariyadi also revealed that Indonesia will hold a simultaneous election in 2024. The Constitutional Court will also exercise one of its authorities to hear disputes over the results of both presidential and legislative elections.

“So, we will conduct the presidential election in February. However, if a presidential election petition is lodged to the Constitutional Court, there could be a runoff in May. Meanwhile, in November, we will hold regional head election,” explained the constitutional justice advisor who obtained a doctorate from Andalas University, Padang.

He also mentioned the Court’s authority on disputes over authority between state institutions, which happens when state institutions feel their authority is reduced by another state institution. “An example was one case between the DPR (House of Representatives) and DPD (Regional Representatives Council),” he said.

At the end of the visit, Bisariyadi said that building public trust by maintaining the Court’s authority is very important. “One thing that must be underlined is that building public trust for the Court is important for its decisions to be obeyed, and building public trust is not only telling people to trust [the Court], but [the Court] also have to maintain its reputation,” he said.

As many as 150 law students of Sahid University Jakarta joined the visit. After the presentation, the students visited the Constitution History Center (Puskon) at the fifth and sixth floors of the Court’s main building.

Author       : B. Panji Erawan
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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