Chief justice elect Suhartoyo shaking hand with Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra after his selection through a closed justice deliberation meeting, Thursday (11/9/2023). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo has been elected as chief justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) for 2023-2028. The election was conducted in a closed justice deliberation meeting (RPH) on Thursday, November 9, 2023 in the RPH room of the Court’s main building. This election was carried out in accordance with the MKMK (Constitutional Court Ethics Council) Decision No. 2/MKMK/L/11/2023 on November 7, 2023, which instructed the election of a new chief justice for 2023-2028 within 2x24 hours from Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 18:21 WIB, and based on the Constitutional Court Regulation No. 6 of 2023 on the procedures for the election of the chief justice and deputy chief justice of the Constitutional Court.

The meeting was chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra, with the other eight constitutional justices in attendance: Constitutional Justices Anwar Usman, Arief Hidayat, Wahiduddin Adams, Suhartoyo, Manahan M. P. Sitompul, Enny Nurbaningsih, Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh, and M. Guntur Hamzah.

After conducting the justice deliberation meeting (RPH) at 09:00 WIB, Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra and the other constitutional justices came to the Court’s plenary courtroom to publicly announce the result of their consensus. He said that the constitutional justices had proposed two justices for the positions—himself and Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo. After the deliberation, the two justices had a discussion on who would become the chief justice and deputy chief justice.

“With the spirit of improving the Constitutional Court, the two of us have reached a decision, that we agree upon, that Mr. Suhartoyo will become the next constitutional court chief justice, and I will continue to carry out my duties as the deputy chief justice. That was the result of our deliberation on the 16th floor earlier this morning, where the elected chief justice is Justice Suhartoyo. In addition, he will take his oath on Monday in the court’s plenary courtroom,” Justice Saldi announced to media crews who had been waiting in the plenary courtroom since morning.

After announcing the joint agreement, Justice Suhartoyo addressed the press who had been waiting with questions. “Since I have not been inaugurated yet, it is not my capacity to convey things that can be done for the Court. Our spirit remains the same, and any shortcomings observed within the Court will be rectified. Prof. Saldi and I have been working together for institutional improvement for a long time. I kindly ask for your prayers, my friends in the press. Should there be any shortcomings in the future, it is perfectly fine to make criticism so we can evaluate,” said the justice, who was born on October 15, 1959 in Sleman, Yogyakarta.

Before leaving the courtroom, Justice Suhartoyo expressed his hope for his tenure. He emphasized the importance of the constitutional justices working together to restore public trust in the Constitutional Court. He admitted that there are significant agendas ahead that require collaboration between the chief justice, deputy chief justice, and all constitutional justices. He emphasized that he did not take on the position by personal request but it was the trust and request of all the justices. His aim is to lead the Court towards a better direction and to regain the public’s trust.

Author       : Sri Pujianti
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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