Expert assistant to constitutional justice Mery Christiana Putri delivering a presentation to ALSA LC UGM, Tuesday, (7/25/2023). Photo by Humas/Panji.

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JAKARTA, MKRI – The Constitutional Court received a visit from the Asian Law Students’ Association Local Chapter Universitas Gadjah Mada (ALSA LC of UGM) in Court’s main hall on Tuesday, July 15, 2023. They were received by Mery Christiana Putri, an expert assistant to constitutional justice. She also delivered a presentation on “The Constitutional Court of Indonesia: History, Authority, and Functions.”

Before giving her presentation, Mery explained briefly the beginning of the world’s constitutional court, which started with the case Madison v Marbury in the Supreme Court of the United States, starting with ideas by John Marshall and Hans Kelsen. In Indonesia, it started with the amendment to the 1945 Constitution until its establishment in 2003.

“In the amendment (1945 Constitution), finally there is no longer a supreme state institution. Currently, all institutions are equal and only differentiated by their functions and authority,” Mery said.

Next, she explained the Constitutional Court’s authority in the landscape of Indonesia’s administration. She explained that it has the authority to review laws against the Constitution, to decide disputes over the authority of state institutions (SKLN) whose authority is granted by the Constitution, to decide on the dissolution of political parties, and to decide disputes over election results. Its obligation is to decide the House of Representatives’ (DPR) opinion regarding the allegation that the president and/or vice president has committed a criminal offense.

“The Constitutional Court also has an additional authority to hear disputes over regional head elections, which is not derived from the Constitution,” she explained.

Mery continued that four types of the Court’s authority and its one obligation are a constitutional mandate regulated in Article 24C paragraphs (1) and (2) of the 1945 Constitution as well as Law No. 24 of 2003 on the Constitutional Court and Law No. 48 of 2009 on Judicial Power.

Furthermore, she revealed the Constitutional Court’s functions: the guardian of the state ideology and the Constitution, the last interpreter of the Constitution, the guardian of democracy, the protector of human rights, and the protector of the constitutional rights of citizens.

In addition, Mery also explained the philosophy of the nine pillars in the Constitutional Court’s building, which symbolizes the number of constitutional justices. “So there are nine constitutional judges, where they are elected from three different state institutions, three from the President, three from the House of Representative and three from the Supreme Court,” she explained.

Concluding her presentation, Mery explained the procedural law for judicial review, whose proceedings comprise preliminary hearings, evidentiary hearings, ruling hearing, and justice deliberation meetings. She added that the Court does not handle constitutional complaints or constitutional questions.

“The petition consists of the petitioner’s profile, the Court’s authority, the petitioner’s legal standing, posita, and petitum. Petition can be filed to the Constitutional Court offline or online,” she concluded.

Author       : Panji Erawan
Editor        : Nur R.
Translator  : Tahlitha Laela/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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