Law students of Mahasaraswati University welcomed by expert assistant to constitutional justice Mery Christian Putri, Monday (10/23/2023). Photo by MKRI/Fauzan.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — A total of 185 students of the Law Faculty of Mahasaraswati University (FH Unmas) of Denpasar visited the Constitutional Court (MK) on Monday, October 23, 2023 and they were welcomed by expert assistant to constitutional justice Mery Christian Putri in the Court’s main hall.

The Law Faculty Dean of Unmas Sukawati Lanang P. said that the visit was to learn the legal practice in the field and conduct in-depth research of the Court. “We are conducting this application study so that students can have an overview of the legal practices carried out in institutions related to the law,” he said.

To the students, Mery explained the Court’s authority in Indonesia’s constitutional structure, that is, to conduct judicial review of laws against the 1945 constitution, to decide upon authority disputes between state institutions whose authority is granted by the 1945 constitution, to decide upon the dissolution of political parties, and to decide upon disputes over the results of general elections.

In addition, the Court has the authority to hear disputes over regional head elections. This authority is not derived from the Constitution.

Mery further explained that the Constitution’s protection of human rights is the same as protection of the citizens’ constitutional rights because constitutional rights are derived from human rights enshrined in the 1945 Constitution.

In performing this authority, the Court is bound by fundamental principles or legal principles. In the context of judicial review, every norm reviewed by must be considered constitutional. Additionally, the Court’s decisions are binding for all parties, not only binding on one individual.

Mery also emphasized that anyone can re-submit a judicial review petition against a norm that has already been reviewed as long as it has different arguments or touchstones.

“If the touchstones are the same, as long as there are different arguments, a petition can be filed. The causal verband [between the norm challenged and the constitutional impairment] must also be narrated in such a way with strong arguments,” she added.

Meanwhile, in the context of judicial review, Mery said, there are requirements that must be fulfilled or the presumption of constitutional harm. “The presumption of constitutional harm must be included in the petition to support the petitioner’s legal standing. First, the petitioner has the constitutional rights as regulated in the 1945 Constitution. Second, the citizen’s constitutional rights are allegedly violated by the norm being reviewed,” she explained.

After delivering the presentation, Mery invited the students and lecturers to ask questions and have an open discussion on several cases and cases that have been resolved by the Court.

The students then were taken to tour the Constitutional History Center on the 5th and 6th floors of the Court’s main building. 

Author       : Fauzan F.
Editor        : Nur R.
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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