Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra opening a meeting on the preparation for the functional position of expert assistant to constitutional justice (ASLI), with the Chief Registrar and the head of Center for Research, Case Review, and Library Management, Thursday (10/19/2023) in Tangerang. Photo by MKRI/YB.

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TANGERANG (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held a meeting on the preparation of the functional position of expert assistant to constitutional justice (ASLI) on Thursday, October 19, 2023 in Tangerang. Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra, Chief Registrar Muhidin, and head of the Center for Research, Case Review, and Library Management (Puslitka) Pan M. Faiz attended the event.

Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra conveyed that as a leader, he continued to try to resolve various issues, particularly the restructuring of functional positions of constitutional registrar (PASTI) and expert assistant to constitutional justices (ASLI) following a recent Constitutional Court decision. He also stated the functional position of PASTI had received approval from the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (KemenPANRB).

“Indeed (these two functional positions) will be under the Chief Registrars. We hope the process will be simultaneous for several points that have not been completed. This became our concern because these two functional positions under the Registrar’s Office must indeed be organized together, in addition to other functional positions in the Court, to prevent friction,” he said.

Meanwhile, in his remarks, Chief Registrar Muhidin said that the functional position of ASLI cannot be separated from Article 48 of Law No. 11 of 2019 on the National System of Science and Technology, which mandates the establishment of an integrated research organization, which was followed up with the establishment of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).

“The policy implies the ‘withdrawal’ of researcher position to BRIN would have impacted the case handling process in the Constitutional Court, especially to support constitutional justices. Therefore, to minimize this impact, a new position was created for researchers so their main duties and functions in the Court continue to be optimal,” he said.

He pointed out that with the stipulation of PAN/RB Ministerial Regulation No. 40 of 2022 on the Functional Position of Expert Assistant to Constitutional Justice, 25 of these expert assistants—previously researchers—were inaugurated on August 31, 2022. Although the functional position for ASLI has been established, further steps are still needed with regard to its management and development as every functional position has a fostering agency that is tasked with its management and development.

Muhidin added that the management function is related to providing the best support for ASLI in terms of task implementation, performance control, and career development. Meanwhile, the development function is related to improving the quality of functional staffers’ performance, including identifying needs for training. In addition to these two main functions, the fostering agency has a responsibility to facilitate competency tests based on established competency standards, review completed learning, conduct evaluation, formulate code of ethics for ASLI, and facilitate the establishment of its professional organization. Therefore, various documents, guidelines, and regulations are needed to support this.

“We need to understand that the Permenpan No. 4 of 2022 has appointed the fostering agency for ASLI. This means that the establishment of a fostering agency does not imply creating a new organization or working unit, but the operation of ASLI’s fostering agency requires the preparation of regulations, guidelines, and other supporting documents. However, today, Puslitka and the Human Resources and Organization Bureau (SDMO) and other staffers intend to compile the operation requirements for the fostering agency. This event holds significant meaning, especially in relation to the management function. The fostering agency could potentially affect the performance assessment of ASLI staffers, as their performance may not be converted into credit points yet, which is closely related to their career development, and the absence of credit points may result in missed opportunities for career advancement for them,” Muhidin explained.

Muhidin went on to say that, in addition to the overseeing the agency’s operational needs, it is also important to strengthen the mechanism of the functional position of ASLI. As the transformation of the functional position of researcher, it has a different set of obligations. Thus, it is necessary to improve the mechanism that is more oriented towards handling cases. In the end, this will help the Constitutional Court fulfill its third goal, which is to improve the quality of decisions. Furthermore, it is a logical result of the Constitutional Court’s Decision No. 121/PUU-XX/2022, which made ASLI part of the Registrar’s Office.

The meeting was held on Thursday to Saturday, October 19-21, 2023. On the first day, speakers from the State Administration Agency (LAN), the National Civil Service Agency (BKN), the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), and the National Law Development Agency (BPHN)—all fostering agencies of functional positions—delivered presentations on the main duties, functions, regulations, supporting documents, and developments of the functional positions they oversee. Next, the Deputy Chief Justice and Chief Registrars delivered their directives and policies for the preparation of documents for the fostering agency and work mechanism of the functional position of expert assistant to constitutional justice. On the second day, the participants of each field will compile everything needed to prepare the regulations, guidelines, and supporting documents for establishment of the fostering agency.

Author       : Utami Argawati
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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