Anisitus Amanat (Petitioner) conveying the petition’s subject matters virtually at the preliminary hearing of the material judicial review of Law No. 30 of 2004 on the Notary, Thursday (8/1/2024). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — Anisitus Amanat, a notary, has filed a material judicial review petition of Article 8 paragraph (1) letter b and Article 8 paragraph (2) of Law No. 30 of 2004 on the Notary Public as amended by Law No. 2 of 2014 on the Amendment to Law No. 30 of 2004 (Notary Law) to the Constitutional Court (MK). The preliminary hearing for case No. 84/PUU-XXII/2024 took place in the plenary courtroom on Thursday, August 1, 2024.

Article 8 paragraph (1) letter b and Article 8 paragraph (2) of the Notary Law read, “A Notary Public shall resign or be honorably dismissed from his/her office due to: (1) … b. having reached the age of 65 (sixty-five) years; (2) Provision on age as referred to in the paragraph (1) letter b can be extended until the age of 67 (sixty-seven) years by considering the health of the person in question.” The Petitioner believes the articles are in violation of Article 27 paragraph (2), Article 28C paragraph (1), Article 28D paragraph (1), and Article 28H paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution.

Anisitus, who appeared before the Court remotely, said he had been harmed by the retirement age of the notary, which is 65 years and may be extended until 67 years by considering the health of the notary in question. Meanwhile, there is no such age restriction for the profession of advocate. He argued that both are professionals in the field of law who do not receive salary and other benefits from the state, as per Article 9 paragraph (1) of the Advocate Law. This, he emphasized, is the proof of unequal treatment before the law between the notary and the advocate, which is in violation of Article 28D paragraph (1) and Article 28I paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution.

“[I] cannot work to earn a living in [my] old age. Actually, [I] am physically healthy for work, but due to the age restriction, I cannot find a job despite my health,” Anisitus said before Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat (panel chair), Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh, and Asrul Sani.

He added that honorable dismissal only applies to the notary, not to the advocate. Therefore, he stressed, the notary profession has not received legal protection from discriminatory treatment.

Therefore, he requests that the Court grant his entire petition and declare Article 8 paragraph (1) letter b and paragraph (2) of Law No. 30 of 2004 on the Notary, which stipulates that the notary shall resign or be honorably discharged when reaching the age of 65 (sixty-five) and may be extended until 67 (sixty-seven), conditionally constitutional if not interpreted that the notary resigns or is honorably discharged due to being physical and/or mental unfit at any age based on a statement by an authorized doctor.

Justices’ Advice

Constitutional Justice Asrul Sani advised the Petitioner to mention the article being petitioned following the Constitutional Court regulation.

“The Petitioner is aware of the case No. 14/PUU-XXII/2024, where the same article was questioned, but said this case has a different petitum. If a 35-year-old notary had a stroke and a doctor released a statement about it, while their retirement is still far down the line at the age of 67, but he is dismissed as a notary and can no longer work as one, does this not endanger other notaries?” he asked.

Next, Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat advised the Petitioner to revise the explanation of the Court’s authority. He also said that the posita must convince the constitutional justices to change its stance on what it has previously ruled. “Revise the petitum since it is not in line with the posita,” he said.

At the end of the hearing, Justice Arief announced that the Petitioner would have 14 days to revise the petition and must submit the revised petition by Wednesday, August 14, 2024 at 14:00 WIB to the Registrar’s Office. The Court will then schedule the next hearing to examine the revisions to the petition.

Authors          : Sri Pujianti
Editor             : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR                 : Fauzan Febriyan
Translators     : 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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