Petitioner and legal counsels preparing for a judicial review hearing of the Prosecution Law, Monday (2/19/2024). Photo by MKRI/Ilham W. M.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held another material judicial review hearing of the requirement for attorney general candidate in Article 20 of Law No. 16 of 2004 on the Prosecution Service as amended by Law No. 11 of 2021 on Monday, 19 February 2024 in the plenary courtroom. The second hearing for petition No. 6/PUU-XXII/2024, filed by Jovi Andrea Bachtiar, a prosecutor, was to discuss the revisions to the petition.

Article 20 of the Prosecution Law reads, “In order to be appointed an Attorney General, one shall fulfill requirements as follows: a. An Indonesian citizen; b. Has faith in the One Almighty God; c. Faithful to Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia; d. Has at least a bachelor’s degree in law; e. Physically and mentally fit; f. Has integrity, authority, honesty, fairness, and show irreproachable conduct.” The Petitioner alleges that the article is in violation of Article 1 paragraph (3), Article 2 paragraph (1), and Article 27 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution.

At today’s hearing, the Petitioner revealed that he had revised the elaboration of his legal standing by clarifying points g and i. “In essence, [I] explains that there are differences in logic and the petitum, which requires and causes this [norm] to be reexamined, regardless of whether or not it is granted,” he said.

He added that there was no revision to the description of constitutional impairment. “The reasons for the petition were added, on page 24. Quoting His Excellency Justice Arief Hidayat, there must be divine values in the law enforcement in Indonesia, which made the Petitioner believe that the Attorney General must free from any political intervention. There is also addition in points 11 and 12,” he explained.

Also read: Court Asked to Ban Political Party Members to Be Attorney General

At the preliminary hearing on February 1, the Petitioner stressed that the active participation of law enforcers in politics by being members of political parties would harm the prosecution service’s independence, especially in the eradication of criminal acts of corruption. This, he added, is because the attorney general’s political affiliation could lead to political contracts and pressure from their political colleagues.

“Not to mention, there is currently no fit-and-proper-test in the process of appointment and dismissal of the attorney general as a checks-and-balances mechanism. As such, the attorney general can be dismissed if considered defiant by their political colleagues,” he argued.

Therefore, in his petitum, the Petitioner requests that the Court add the requirement “g. Currently not a member of any political party or has not been a political party member for at least 5 (five) years by dismissal or resignation” to Article 20 of the Prosecution Law.

Author       : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR            : Raisa Ayuditha
Translator  : 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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