Chief Justice Anwar Usman closing a workshop and FGD on the procedural law for the 2024 general election results disputes for APHAMK, Sunday (7/30/2023). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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BOGOR (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court’s workshop and focus group discussion (FGD) on the procedural law for the 2024 general election results dispute (PHPU) for the Association of Lecturers on Procedural Law of the Constitutional Court (APHAMK) was officially concluded by Chief Justice Anwar Usman on Sunday, July 30, 2023 at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center (Pusdik) in Cisarua, Bogor, West Java Province. Constitutional Justice M. Guntur Hamzah, Secretary-General Heru Setiawan, and APHAMK chairman Widodo Ekatjahjana were in attendance.

On that occasion, Chief Justice Anwar Usman said that the Constitutional Court (MK) has four types of authority and one obligation as set forth in Article 24C of the 1945 Constitution. Constitutional Court keu authority is to conduct judicial review. A citizen can petition for the judicial review of a law if they feel that their constitutional rights have been violated due to the enforcement of the law.

He further said that a law is the result of joint work by the House of Representatives (DPR) and the president, with the assistance of ministries. However, laws can be declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court on a petitioner’s request.

Chief Justice Anwar said the next authority is to decide the dissolution of political parties. Once a president asked that a political party be disbanded. However, with the amendment to the 1945 Constitution, it can only be done by the Constitutional Court with a petition by the president.

The Court also has the authority to decide disputes related to the authority of state institutions that is granted by the 1945 Constitution, for example, if the president issues a regulation on cassation although it is the Supreme Court’s authority.

The last type of authority is to decide disputes related to the results of general elections. In addition, he continued, Article 24C paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution stipulates that the Court has the obligation to give the decision on the opinion of the House regarding alleged violations by the president or vice president.

Chief Justice Anwar explained the mechanism for impeaching the president/vice president. Before a petition for it is submitted to the Constitutional Court, the House must convene with the presence of the two-thirds of its members to give approval. If the president or vice president is declared by the Constitutional Court to have committed an offense, the Court’s decision will be reviewed by the MPR (People’s Consultative Assembly) following statutory legislation. He also stressed that the Court can only rule over cases that are petitioned. He added that the Court has an additional authority to settle disputes over the results of regional elections.

In addition, he also reaffirmed that the Constitutional Court as the guardian of the Constitution has a role to protect the state processes so they are in line with the Constitution, including to actualize a prosperous state. The development by the state should be based on legal provisions. 

Chief Justice Anwar also appreciated APHAMK, which is an education-based organization of all universities in Indonesia and amicus curiae (friends of the Court) that had supported the Court in guarding and upholding constitutional supremacy. “My appreciation goes to APHAMK that has spread the understanding of procedural laws and the Constitutional Court decisions as a subject in the Law Faculty of various Indonesian universities,” he said

Author       : Bayu Wicaksono
Editor        : Nur R.
Translator  : Nyi Mas Laras Nur Inten Kemalasari/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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