Jimly Asshiddiqie (right) speaking at an FGD on constitutionally important state institutions alongside head of the Center for Research, Case Review, and Library Management Pan Mohamad Faiz (left), Tuesday (10/31/2023). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held a focus group discussion (FGD) on the concept, limits, and criteria of state institutions that are constitutionally important on Tuesday, October 31, 2023 in the hall of the Court’s second building. The event was attended by chief justice of the Constitutional Court for 2003-2008 Jimly Asshiddiqie as speaker, head of the Center for Research, Case Review, and Library Management (Puslitka) Pan Mohamad Faiz, and expert assistants to constitutional justices.

At the event, Jimly explained about state institutions in both narrow and broad senses. He said that state institutions are established based on legislation. They belong in several categories as legal subjects within the Constitution, which are regulated and established based on the Constitution. “I encourage you to study the 1945 Constitution and its legal subjects,” he said.

He further explained that state institutions are sometimes referred to as government institutions. State institutions regulated and formed by the Constitution are constitutional organs. They can be established based on constitutional granting of power, specific laws, or even presidential decrees. The hierarchy of legislation depends on the degree of regulation according to the applicable laws and regulations. In constitutional law, the term is also used to refer to a more limited understanding, specifically the instruments of state associated with the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of power.

Jimly believes that state institutions serve to assist the government in achieving the goal of becoming a developed country. Additionally, they exist to promote the welfare of society by providing adequate facilities to improve the well-being of the people. They also function to help the government achieve the goals of the nation and their duties have been listed in the 1945 Constitution.

In addition to state institutions explicitly mentioned in the 1945 Constitution, there are other state institutions that hold the same constitutional importance, even though their existence is regulated by or within laws. Whether regulated in the Constitution or only in laws, as long as they possess the same constitutional importance, they can be categorized as state institutions with a similar constitutional status. However, they cannot be referred to as equivalent high-level state institutions with their respective oversight bodies. Indeed, the jurisdiction of the Judicial Commission, similar to the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court, is also regulated in the 1945 Constitution. Specifically, the Supreme Court is regulated in Article 24A, the Judicial Commission in Article 24B, and the Constitutional Court in Article 24C of the 1945 Constitution. However, the regulation of an institution’s authority in the Constitution does not necessarily mean that the institution can be categorized as a high-level state institution.

Meanwhile, Pan Mohamad Faiz explained that the term “constitutional importance” emerged from Jimly Asshidiqie’s ideas on the Court’s authority in handling disputes over the authority of state institutions. He believes that besides the state institutions explicitly mentioned in the 1945 Constitution, there are also those whose existence is important and has an impact on the Indonesian state administration even though they are not explicitly mentioned, their existence is implicitly regulated in the Constitution.

“We often have regular discussions. We want to formulate and develop this concept of ‘importance’ by discussing what the concept is, whether there are standard criteria, whether there are similar practices in other countries, so that we can provide advice to constitutional justices in handling cases,” said Faiz.

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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