Constitutional law student of UIN Sayyid Ali Rahmatullah Tulungagung, Moch Imam Djauhari, during the pronouncement hearing of Case No. 78/PUU-XXII/2024, Thursday (29/08/2024). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA, MKRI - The Constitutional Court (MK) declared Moch. Imam Djauhari, a student of the Constitutional Law Study Program of UIN Sayyid Ali Rahmatullah Tulungagung, has no legal standing to challenge Article 53 Paragraph (2) letter a of Law No. 6 of 2014 on Villages (Village Law). The Decision Pronunciation Hearing No. 78/PUU-XXII/2024, led by Chief Suhartoyo, was held on Thursday, August 29, 2024, at the Plenary Courtroom.

In the Court's legal reasoning, Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra said that to be appointed as a village official, a citizen must have a minimum age of 20 (twenty) years and a maximum age of 42 (forty-two) years. This limitation is stated in the norms of Article 50 of Law No. 3 of 2024 on the Second Amendment to Law No. 6 of 2014 on Villages (Law No. 3 of 2024). This means, Saldi explained, that by referring to the minimum age limit, the Petitioner is not deprived of his constitutional right to become a village official.

In this case, the alleged loss of the Petitioner's constitutional rights or the potential loss of constitutional rights experienced by the Petitioner is not clearly illustrated and has no causal relationship with the enactment of the norms of Article 53 paragraph (2) letter a of Law No. 6 of 2014. Even if it is true that the Petitioner has suffered a constitutional rights loss by declaring the norm of Article 53 paragraph (2) letter a of Law No. 6 of 2014 contrary to the 1945 Constitution and has no binding legal force, according to the Court, it will result in the loss of the Petitioner's constitutional rights.

This is because the legal certainty of the maximum age limit to become a village official has been removed. Thus, there is no doubt for the Court to declare that the Petitioner has no legal standing to file the petition.

“The Petitioner does not have legal standing to file the petition; The subject matter of the petition is not considered,” said Chief Justice Suhartoyo, reading out the verdict of this case.

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Student Seeks to Clarify Age Limit for Village Heads

UIN Tulungagung Students Clarify Petition On Village Heads Age Limit

Previously, the Petitioner stated that Article 53 paragraph (2) letter a of the Village Law was considered contrary to the 1945 Constitution, particularly Article 1 paragraph (3); Article 28C paragraph (2); Article 28D paragraph (1), paragraph (2), paragraph (3); Article 28H paragraph (2); and Article 28I paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution. In the Petitioner's view, he is harmed by the article because it is difficult to become a village official, even to take part in developing the community in his village, due to the term of office of village officials, which is not clearly regulated. According to the Petitioner, village governance can be said to be a miniature of the Indonesian state so that the village can be the closest political arena for the relationship between the community and the holders of power. Therefore, the government system can be made similar to the central government system.

By not specifically regulating the term of office of village officials, it is possible that village officials can serve for life. In addition, an imbalance of power between the village officials and the village head will arise because the term of office is not limited. This can then hamper and even disrupt the performance of the village head as well as create seniority due to older village officials who serve longer than the next (new) village head.(*)

Penulis : Sri Pujianti
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari P.
Humas: Fauzan Febriyan

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

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