A visit by 124 students of SMP Islam Athirah of South Sulawesi, Thursday (10/12/2023). Photo by MKRI/Ilham W. M.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — Expert assistant to constitutional justice Intan Permata Putri introduced 124 students the Islamic junior high school SMP Islam Athirah of South Sulawesi and their teachers to the Constitutional Court’s (MK) role and functions during their visit to the Court on Thursday, October 12, 2023. In her presentation, Intan explained the legal basis for the establishment of the Court as stated in Article 24 paragraph (1) and (2) of the 1945 Constitution and the Court’s task and authority as a constitutional judicial institution.

“Why do laws have to be reviewed? Because there is concern that certain articles or paragraphs of the laws may infringe upon the citizens’ constitutional rights. For example, you [could be] disadvantaged by the National Education (Sidiknas) Law. Those of you who are under 17 years old may be represented by a rightful party to submit a petition to the Court. The Court’s role here is to ensure your rights are implemented by the state,” she said.

In addition, she emphasized that the Court has a responsibility to uphold the role of the state ideology, which is used to measure any constitutional violations by lawmakers. She also talked about how the Court hear election cases, so next year will be a hectic period for it. She also encouraged the students to get to know the constitutional justices who hear various cases in the Court.

“Then how can you become a constitutional justice? Well, the requirements are regulated in Article 15 of the Constitutional Court Law No. 7 of 2020. The justices must have integrity and are statesmen who master the law and have at least 15 years of professional legal experience. Therefore, if you want to be a constitutional justice, you have to earn a bachelor’s degree to a doctoral degree in law,” she explained.

In the question-and-answer session, the 8th-grade students eagerly raised their hands to ask questions. Muhammad Arif asked, “What will happen if a law is not in accordance with the Constitution?”

Intan answered by explaining that if a norm is deemed inappropriate or unconstitutional, it will undergo a thorough examination. Then, based on the examination results, the Court will issue several statements or decision, such as asserting that the norm is not legally enforceable and unconstitutional.

“The consequence is to go back to the previous law. For example, the Water Resource Law was declared unconstitutional by the Court, thus the law returned to the Irrigation Law. When lawmakers declare that the Irrigation Law is no longer relevant, they will convene again,” Intan replied.

Author       : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Najwa Afifah Lukman/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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