Court Promises Advocates Independence and Impartiality

BOGOR (MKRI) — Head of the Program and Implementation Department of the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center (Pusdik) Nanang Subekti stated that the chief justice and deputy chief justice of the Constitutional Court had guaranteed that the Constitutional Court will be independent and impartial in resolving the upcoming general elections disputes (PHPU). This was conveyed at the closing ceremony of the seventh workshop on procedural law for the resolution of the 2024 general election results disputes (PHPU) for advocates at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center (Pusdik) in Cisarua, Bogor, West Java Province on Thursday, December 14, 2023.

“The chief justice and the deputy chief justice of the Court must be able to provide direct guarantees to stakeholders, one of which is to come directly to provide a guarantee that the Constitutional Court is truly independent and impartial, of course, in the context of handling PHPU, in both presidential and legislative election,” Nanang said, greeted by applause from the participants of the workshop.

He did not deny that recent incident with regard to Decision No. 90/PUU-XXI/2023 had led to the decline of public trust towards the Court. In the remaining time the Court exercises its authority to handle election disputes in 2024, the new chief justice and deputy chief justice must restore and increase public trust.

Nanang said that advocates are friends of the Court. Thus, he asked them to provide fair and transparent legal opinions or inputs in accordance with the legal facts in society, so that the Court’s decisions will be fair and constitutional.

“Friends of the Constitutional Court, these same advocates provide legal opinions that are fair, equitable, transparent in accordance with the legal facts that exist in society, provide the best input for the Court so that the Court can decide fairly and constitutionally,” said Nanang.

When giving her impression and message, vice president of the Congress of Indonesian Advocates (KAI) Aprillia Supaliyanto hopes that the Court will uphold the principles of justice, honesty, and objectivity in handling the 2024 PHPU cases. The Court must also actively provide new knowledge to advocates regarding its procedural laws, especially in facing elections.

“Hopefully election dispute cases can be handled with the principles of fairness, fair play, objectivity, and of course in a neutral position to avoid any further disturbances in the future,” she said.

Also read: Chief Justice: Form Common Perception Among Advocates Ahead of 2024 Election

Meanwhile, head of the organization division of the Banten branch of the Association of Indonesian Advocates (Peradin) Bambang A. Seno said that advocates can play a role in preventing violations of the law in the five-year democratic event. Advocates can participate in ensuring the implementation of an honest and fair 2024 election.

Next, chairman of the Indonesian National Lawyers Council (DPN Indonesia) Faizal Hafied asserted that the Court’s honor would be re-established after Decision No. 90/PUU-XXI/2023. He invites advocates to compete with evidence and facts in the field, not with closeness with constitutional justices in handling the 2024 PHPU case.

“Our paradigm has changed and we will convey to the public that the Court led by the new chief justice and deputy chief justice can be trusted by legislative candidates and leaders of this nation to demand justice that is expected,” he said.

The workshop participants consisted of administrators or members of the Congress of Indonesian Advocates (KAI), the Association of Indonesian Advocates (Peradin), and the Indonesian National Lawyers Council (DPN Indonesia). At the closing ceremony, the organizations’ leaders were in attendance, such as DPN Indonesia chairman Faizal Hafied, president of KAI’s central executive board Erman Umar, and KAI vice president Aprillia Supaliyanto.

Author       : Mimi Kartika
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.


Thursday, December 14, 2023 | 15:10 WIB 217