The Petitioners’ legal counsel Denny Ardiansyah at the material judicial review hearing of Wednesday Law No. 18 of 2017 on the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, Wednesday (10/25/2023). Photo by MKRI/Fauzan.
JAKARTA (MKRI) — Denny Ardiansyah, legal counsel of Imam Syafi’i (chairman of the Association of Indonesian Fishery Workers or AP2I) and PT Mirana Nusantara Indonesia director Ahmad Daryoko, attended the second hearing to examine the revisions to petition No. 127/PUU-XXI/2023 at the Constitutional Court on Wednesday, October 25, 2023.
At the hearing, Denny conveyed the revisions, which include strengthening the arguments for reviewing Article 4 paragraph (1) letter c of Law No. 18 of 2017 on the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (PPMI Law) as amended by Law No. 6 of 2023 on the Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 2 of 2022 on Job Creation (Job Creation Law).
The next revision was the addition of a description of the legal standing of Petitioner III by including the organization’s statute/bylaws and the legal standing of Petitioner II by attaching his identification. Then, for the constitutional losses of Petitioners I and II, an argument on the provisions on mandatory registration, seaman certificate, and work visa for migrant workers had been added. The obligation has increased the seamen’s burden and impacted the competitiveness of Indonesian seamen in the job market.
As for Petitioner III, Denny added, dualism of regulations had caused confusion for the company in determining which business license to use—whether that in accordance with the provisions of the Ministry of Manpower or of the Ministry of Transportation. Besides that, the petition also informs that Petitioner III is currently a defendant after being arrested for suspicion of human trafficking.
“In this revision, we also added arguments about comparisons with other countries regarding the status of seaman. We have compared it with provisions in the Philippines, which applies the Seafarers National Commission Law issued in 2017, which manages the needs of seamen so that professional seamen are generated and the management will be more focused because it is run by managers with qualified knowledge backgrounds,” Denny explained.
Also read: AP2I, Ship Crew Agent Object to Inclusion of Fishing Crews as Migrant Workers
On Wednesday, October 11, the Court held the preliminary material judicial review hearing of Article 4 paragraph (1) letter c of Law No. 18 of 2017 on the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (PPMI Law) as amended by Law No. 6 of 2023 on the Stipulation of the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 2 of 2022 on Job Creation into Law. The case No. 127/PUU-XXI/2023 was filed by chairman of the Association of Indonesian Fishery Workers (Asosiasi Pekerja Perikanan Indonesia or AP2I) Imam Syafi’i, Untung Dihako, and PT Mirana Nusantara Indonesia director Ahmad Daryoko (Petitioners I-III).
The Petitioners argue that Article 4 paragraph (1) letter c of the PPMI Law (“Migrant workers of Indonesia shall include: … c. ship crews and fishing crews.”) is against Article 28D paragraphs (1) and (2), Article 28G paragraph (1), and Article 28I paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution.
Petitioner I believes that the enforcement of the norm has led to overlapping regulations at several levels, such as Law No. 17 of 2008 on Shipping, Government Regulation (PP) No. 22 of 2022 on the Placement and Protection of Migrant Commercial Ship Crews and Migrant Fishing Ship Crews. The transfer of authority on shipping from the Ministry of Transportation to the Ministry of Manpower and the Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Agency (BP2MI), so that the guarantee of protection and rights for ship crews and fishing crews that has been formulated in shipping statutory legislation cannot be applied.
The ship crew agency company of Petitioner III has also been harmed by the a quo norm. He was obligated to have a migrant worker recruitment permit issued by the head of the BP2MI as referred to in Article 72 letter c of the PPMI Law. Due to this provision, he was declared a suspect and is undergoing detainment process with the investigators of the Police Criminal Investigations Directorate of Central Java on a human trafficking charge.
In addition, the norm could potentially harm him in doing ship crew agency business. He used to cooperate with foreign ship crew agencies of countries that Indonesia both does and does not have diplomatic ties.
Therefore, in the petitum, the Petitioners request the Court to declare Article 4 paragraph (1) letter c of the PPMI Law as amended by the Job Creation Law in violation of Article 28D paragraphs (1) and (2), Article 28G paragraph (1), and Article 28I paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution and not legally binding.
Author : Sri Pujianti
Editor : Nur R.
PR : Tiara Agustina
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.
Wednesday, October 25, 2023 | 16:35 WIB 795