Christophorus Harno and legal counsel Rizky Dwi Cahyo Putra taking a selfie after the panel petition revision hearing of the judicial review of Article 34 of Law No. 30 of 2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission, Tuesday (7/25/2023). Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held another judicial review hearing of Article 34 of Law No. 30 of 2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK Law) on Tuesday, July 25, 2023 in the plenary courtroom. The petition No. 68/PUU-XXI/2023 was filed by the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Community (MAKI), represented by Boyamin bin Saiman, and advocate Christophorus Harno.

Christophorus Harno conveyed the revisions made to the petition before Constitutional Justices Manahan M. P. Sitompul (panel chair), Wahiduddin Adams, and Arief Hidayat. The petition now reveals who can represent MAKI in court. The Petitioners also revised the elaboration of the Constitutional Court’s authority, added that the touchstone is Article 1 paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution, and explained the legal reason why the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is not with the executive and legislative branches.

“The other touchstones are Articles 27 and 28 of the 1945 Constitution, which have been elaborated in the revision, polemics between the DPR (House of Representatives) and the Government, as shown in news articles linked in the petition, and the petitum has been simplified,” Christophorus said alongside legal counsel Rizky Dwi Cahyo Putra on site and Boyamin bin Saiman (representative of Petitioner I), who attended the hearing online.

Also read: Constitutionality of KPK Commissioners’ Tenure Questioned

At the preliminary hearing on Monday, July 10, bin Saiman said that the Constitutional Court had interpreted Article 34 of the KPK Law (“The Commissioners of the KPK shall hold office for a term of 4 (four) years, and may be reappointed for one term.”) in Decision No. 112/PUU-XX/2022. The KPK commissioners now hold office for a term of five years and can be reappointed for one more term. The Petitioners believe this to be against Article 27 paragraph (1) and Article 28D of the 1945 Constitution since it is retroactive and Petitioner II has been kept from joining the selection for KPK commissioners. They believe the norm should not be retroactive and the KPK commissioners’ tenure should be different from that of the executive and legislative in order to maintain the KPK’s independence.

Therefore, in the petitum, the Petitioners request that the Court declare Article 34 of Law No. 30 of 2002 on the KPK in conjunction with the Constitutional Court Decision No. 112/PUU-XX/2022 unconstitutional and not legally binding if not interpreted as “The commissioners of the Corruption Eradication Commission shall hold office for a term of 5 (five) years, and this applies for the next term (2023 – 2028).”

Author       : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR            : Tiara Agustina
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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