Constitutional Court delegation (right) led by Secretary-General Heru Setiawan meeting with representatives of the High Court of Australia (right), Thursday (11/16/2023) in Canberra. Photo by MKRI.

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CANBERRA (MKRI) — In order to improve capacity and experience in the management and control of cases, the Constitutional Court (MK) established a collaboration plan with the High Court of Australia. The Constitutional Court delegation led by Secretary-General Heru Setiawan held a meeting with Chief Executive and Principal Registrar Philippa Lynch and Senior Registrar Carolyn Rogers at the High Court of Australia on Thursday, November 16, 2023 in Canberra.

During the meeting, Heru Setiawan conveyed a plan to establish cooperation in the form of sending Constitutional Court employees to take part in an internship program at the High Court of Australia, which also has similar authority and position to the Constitutional Court of Indonesia. In response, Philippa Lynch and Carolyn Rogers welcomed the plan. However, Constitutional Court employees interning at the High Court will not be assigned to provide assistance to High Court judges in handling cases, due to the confidential nature of their work.

The internship at the Australian High Court is planned to be integrated with the Court’s recharging program by involving several well-known universities that are members of the Group of Eight (Go8), such as Melbourne Law School, Sydney Law School, and the University of Queensland (UQ) Law School.

In a series of separate meetings, Professor Simon Butt from Sydney Law School and Professor Ann Black from UQ Law School have welcomed the Constitutional Court’s plan. Meanwhile, Professor Tim Lindsey from Melbourne Law School will discuss this further during his visit to the Constitutional Court on Monday, November 20, 2023.

Audience with Indonesian Representatives

To strengthen the cooperation plan, alongside head of Center for Research, Case Review, and Library Management Pan Mohamad Faiz, substitute registrar Mardian Wibowo, and secretary to the deputy chief justice Donny Yuniarto, the Secretary-General also held an audience with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Indonesia to Australia Siswo Pramono at the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra on Thursday, November 16 and with the Indonesian Consul General at the Indonesian Consulate General in Sydney on Wednesday, November 15.

On this occasion, Heru Setiawan stated that the Court would like to initiate cooperation with the High Court of Australia and several universities in Australia. In addition, he explained the collaboration that had been established so far between the Constitutional Court and Australia, such as expertise exchange with Administrative Court judges in Western Australia and annual internship programs for Australian law students at the Constitutional Court facilitated by the Australian Consortium for ‘In-Country’ Indonesian Studies (ACICIS).

Responding to the plan, both the Indonesian Ambassador and the Consul General in Sydney gave full support to the Constitutional Court’s efforts in improving the quality and capacity of its personnel. The Indonesian Embassy in Canberra and the Indonesian Consulate General in Sydney will also facilitate the follow-up of a series of meeting to realize cooperation that will involve elements of state institutions and universities.

Author         : Donny Yuniarto/PMF
Editor          : Nur R.
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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