Indra Sofian, first chief investigator at the Directorate of Partnership Supervision, Deputy for Law Enforcement, Commission for the Supervision of Business Competition (KPPU) at the material judicial review hearing of Law No. 18 of 2003 on Advocates, Tuesday (10/24/2023). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — A material judicial review hearing of Law No. 18 of 2003 on Advocates was held by the Constitutional Court (MK) on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 in one of the panel courtrooms. Petition No. 138/PUU-XXI/2023 was filed by Indra Sofian, a first chief investigator at the Directorate of Partnership Supervision, Deputy for Law Enforcement, Commission for the Supervision of Business Competition (KPPU).

The Petitioner challenges Article 3 paragraph (1) letters c and g of the Advocate Law, which reads, “To be able to be appointed as an advocate, requirements applied shall be as the following: c. not have a status as civil servant or public official; g. not having been working for at least 2 (two) consecutive years in the Advocate office.”

The Petitioner conveyed at the hearing that he had suffered a loss due to the aforementioned provision. He has had more than 10 years of experience as an investigator, a law enforcement officer, at KPPU. Moreover, according to the Congress of Indonesian Advocates (KAI), retired law enforcers and military personnel who are qualified to practice as advocates do not need to take internship at an advocate office.

He also argues that his status is not a “civil servant” or a state official, so he should not be prohibited from becoming an advocate.

“I am an employee of KPPU and an investigator for law enforcement. It is clear that, as stipulated in Article 1 point 25 of KPPU Regulation No. 2 of 2023 on the procedure for handling cases of monopolistic practices and unfair business competition, a business competition investigator is an employee in charge of clarifying reports or notifications, investigating, filing, compiling violation reports, submitting alleged violation reports in preliminary hearings and submitting evidence,” he said before Constitutional Justices Suhartoyo (panel chair), Enny Nurbaningsih, and Arief Hidayat.

Thus, the Petitioner does not feel that it is necessary to do internship at an advocate office for two years because is already has practical experience that supports the competency, skills, and ethics in carrying out his profession as an investigator at the KPPU.

Based on these reasons, the Petitioner requests that the Constitutional Court declare Article 3 paragraph (1) letters c and g of the Advocate Law unconstitutional and not legally binding.

Justice’ Advice

Responding to the petition, Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih said that the format of this petition had not meet the standard as it did not explain the Constitutional Court’s authority.

“The legal standing was not explained either, neither did the constitutional impairment. You only lamented the fact that someone who did not intern could suddenly be an advocate…. It is important to elaborate whether you have legal standing in this petition or not,” she explained.

Next, Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat explained that internship is one of the requirements to become an advocate. “The work of advocates is not only done at the KPPU. There is a lot of advocate work, both inside and outside the court. So a two-year internship any advocate office is required at. For example, if I [want to] become an advocate, I have to do an internship even though I have been a judge for 10 years,” he explained.

At the end of the hearing, the panel informed the Petitioner that he would have 14 workdays to revise his petition and to submit it to the Court’s Registrar Office no later than Monday, November 6, 2023 at 09:00 WIB

Author       : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Nur R.
PR            : Andhini S.F.
Translator  : Tahlitha Laela/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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