Petitioner Ludjiono conveyed his material judicial review petition of Law No. 24 of 2009 on the National Flag, Language, Emblem, and Anthem virtually, Wednesday (8/30/2023). Photo by MKRI/Fauzan.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — A Health Office retiree of Situbondo Regency, East Java Province by the name of Ludjiono has filed a judicial review petition of Law No. 24 of 2009 on the National Flag, Language, Emblem, and Anthem (BBLNLK Law) to the Constitutional Court (MK). The preliminary hearing for case No. 86/PUU-XXI/2023 took place on Wednesday, August 30, 2023 with Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh (panel chair), Wahiduddin Adams, and Enny Nurbaningsih presiding.

Attending the hearing virtually, the Petitioner detailed his reason to challenge Chapter III of the Law, which consists of 20 articles on, among others, the national language. He believes the Indonesian language (bahasa Indonesia) consists of spoken and written varieties as well as the Indonesian script. However, the norms do not describe the concrete form of the Indonesian script, unlike the state emblem—the Garuda that faces right—and the national flag—which has certain colors and ratio. He alleges that the lack of description of the language is in violation of Article 27 paragraph (3), Article 28G paragraphs (1) and (2), Article 36C of the 1945 Constitution.

“The Law does not specify what the Latin script of Indonesian is like. Without it, the Indonesian script cannot be described,” he argued.

In his petitum, he requests that the Court declare Chapter III of Law No. 24 of 2009 on the National Flag, Language, Emblem, and Anthem relating to the national language without the article on the state emblem, which reads, “The state language shall be the Indonesian language in spoken and written forms” unconstitutional and not legally binding.

Justices’ Advice

In response, the panel of justices gave their advice. First, Constitutional Justice Wahiduddin Adams questioned the format of the petition, which did not follow the standard. He expected that the Petitioner study the Court’s regulation on the petition format and the petitioner’s loss. “Relating to the petition, the contradiction to the 1945 Constitution that is believed to have harmed the Petitioner’s constitutional rights is not obvious,” he said.

Second, Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih highlighted the petition’s structure—the petitioner’s profile, the Court’s authority in the case, the petitioner’s actual or potential constitutional impairment due to the enforcement of Chapter III of the Law—and advised the Petitioner to detail the background of the petition.

“Mr. Ludjiono, what are you asking the Court? The petitum is not following that in a material judicial review of a law, for example, that [you ask the Court] to declare Chapter III of the [BBLNLK] Law unconstitutional, and so on. The current format of the petitum is not standard yet, [please adjust it] to the Court’s procedural law. Observe petitions on the Court’s website. More importantly, the legal standing must be affirmed and clarified. There must be a lot of revisions, please do it to the best of your ability,” she said.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh advised the Petitioner to find counsel in revising the petition since there must be many revisions, given that its format has not followed the standard.

“Hopefully a legal aid institute of a counsel who understands the Court’s procedural law and provides inputs regarding the issue that the Petitioner intends to convey that could potentially be harmful,” he said.

Before adjourning the session, Justice Foekh announced that the Petitioner had 14 workdays to revise the petition and submit it no later than Tuesday, September 12 at 09:00 WIB to the Registrar’s Office, who will then notify the Petitioner of the next hearing’s schedule.

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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