Participants of Student Exchange Program 2024 Learns Constitutional Justice
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Expert assistant to constitutional justice (ASLI) Luthfi Widagdo Eddyono received Student Exchange Program 2024’s participants at the Delegation Room Thursday (2/22/2024). Photo by MKRI/Fauzan.


JAKARTA (MKRI) — Law Faculty students of Universitas Pancasila, Jakarta; University of Malaya, Malaysia; University Teknologi Mara, Malaysia; Universitas Diponegoro, Central Jawa; Universitas Padjajaran, West Java; and Universitas Warmadewa, Bali visited the Constitutional Court (MK) on Thursday, February 22, 2024. These students are participants of the Student Exchange Program 2024, organized by the six universities.

Expert assistant to constitutional justice Luthfi Widagdo Eddyono received the visit and explained information on MK as a judiciary branch with the authority to decide on constitutional issues in Indonesia. Luthfi said MK, established in 2003, is a vital institution under the Indonesian legal system responsible for guarding the constitution and enforcing the principles of democratic constitutionalism.

“The independence of the judiciary is the basic principle of MK, which guarantees that MK can do its job impartially without influence,” Luthfi started the discussion at the Delegation Room of MK, Central Jakarta.

Luthfi said that democratic constitutionalism is a form of government that integrates the constitutional and democratic system’s elements. Aside from Indonesia, the United States and many other countries apply the constitutional democratic system. However, its specific structure and democratic constitutional functions may differ based on its constitution and the legal framework of each country.

Under this political system, Luthfi explained, government power is limited by the constitution, which serves as the highest law of a state and determines the government framework. This constitution usually stipulates the form of governance, separation of power between state institutions, and its citizens' fundamental rights and freedom.

Luthfi also explained that the independence of the judiciary refers to the principle that the judiciary must be free of influence or external intervention and capable of making impartial decisions without fear of retaliation or pressure from other branches of power, influential figures, or pressure groups. It becomes an integral part of a democratic system to enforce law supremacy and protect citizens’ rights.

Luthfi also explained the four authorities and one duty of MK. MK is authorized to decide on the first and last decisions, which are final to review law against the constitution, decide on disputes between state institutions, which authorities are given by the constitution, decide on the dissolution of political parties, and decide on election result disputes. Then, MK also has additional authority, that is, to decide on the local election result since the local elections belong to the general election regime.

In addition, MK is obliged to decide on the opinion of the People's Representative Council (DPR) on the violation allegation of the President and/or vice president based on the constitution. The type of violations is stipulated and regulated under the provision of Article 7A of the 1945 Constitution, namely legal violation in the form of treason against the country, corruption, gratification, other criminal offenses or committing disgraceful acts, and/or no longer qualify as president and/or vice president as stipulated under the 1945 Constitution.

A student from Universitas Padjajaran asked about the many political parties in Indonesia. According to Luthfi, the number of political parties is influenced by geographical conditions, thousands of islands, dozens of provinces, hundreds of local languages, 1.340 ethnic groups, various cultures, politics, and religions. Citizens seek loyalty to an organization by forming political parties to accommodate common interests and purposes to fight for people’s interests.

However, Indonesia applies a parliamentary threshold. This means political parties must gain at least four percent of national votes to qualify for DPR positions.

Author       : Mimi Kartika
Editor        : Nur R.
Translator  : Rizky Kurnia Chaesario (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, February 22, 2024 | 15:20 WIB 102