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SAMARINDA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK), in collaboration with the Faculty of Law at Mulawarman University, held the event from Thursday to Saturday, August 29-31, 2024, at Fugo Hotel in Samarinda, East Kalimantan Province.

In his opening remarks, MK Secretary-General Heru Setiawan emphasized that constitutional supremacy is achieved when the Court's decisions are followed up by the decision's recipients and implemented in practice by every component of society. He noted that monitoring and evaluation (monev) of Court’s decisions are among the four crucial aspects included in the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN).

"The most important aspect of constitutional supremacy is the implementation of The Court’s decisions," said Heru, while opening the FGD event, which was attended by lecturers, students, and stakeholders related to the Court’s decisions on Thursday evening, August 29, 2024.

Heru explained that The Court’s decisions are final and binding on all citizens once they are pronounced in an open plenary session. Although the Constitution does not grant the Court authority to monitor and evaluate the implementation of its decisions, it is important for the Court to observe how its decisions are being carried out.

He questioned whether the Court's decisions are indeed being implemented as constitutional solutions that contribute to protecting and/or restoring constitutional rights that have been violated by the enactment of laws, or if the opposite is occurring. He acknowledged that there are technical difficulties in following up on the Court's decisions for implementation.

Additionally, Fajar Laksono, Head of the Legal Affairs and Registrar Administration Bureau, reported that five decisions will be monitored and evaluated. The Court aims to understand how its decisions are being implemented in practice by parties who are directly or indirectly related to or impacted by the Court's rulings.

The five Constitutional Court decisions are as follows: Decision No. 45/PUU-IX/2011 on the status of forest areas designated and/or determined by the government; Decision No. 35/PUU-X/2012 on customary law community land and customary forests as state forests; Decision No. 95/PUU-XII/2014 on the rights of customary law communities, the regulation, structuring, and management of forests by the state or government; Decision No. 24/PUU-XXII/2024 on the prohibition of re-filing judicial reviews by state administrative bodies/officials in state administrative disputes post-Constitutional Court decision; and Decision No. 37/PUU-XIX/2021 on the granting of Mining Business Permits (IUP) by the central and regional governments and their correlation with environmental damage and the criminalization of communities engaging in advocacy efforts.

"We invited decision-makers and stakeholders who were involved in the petition process to assess whether the petitioner's constitutional rights have been restored, including policy-makers, regulation drafters, those involved in follow-up regulation creation or even the formation of laws, and those who are directly or indirectly affected," said Fajar.

He also mentioned that this is not the first time the Court has conducted an FGD on monitoring and evaluating the implementation of The Court’s decisions. Fajar expressed hope that the FGD would yield results and input to ensure the fulfillment of citizens' constitutional rights.

On the other hand, Prof. Abdunnur, Rector of Mulawarman University, stated that the university is ready to collaborate in building legal awareness among the Indonesian public, one of which is by conducting FGDs on monitoring and evaluating The Court’s decisions.

Furthermore, several speakers attended the opening of the FGD, including Mahendra Putra Kurnia, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Mulawarman University, and his team; Constitutional Court Junior Registrars, Heads of Bureau, and Heads of Centers within the Secretariat General and Registrar's Office of the Constitutional Court; Director of the Constitutional Studies Center at the Faculty of Law at Mulawarman University and his team; Supreme Court Justices of the State Administrative Chamber MA Lulik Tri Cahyaningrum and Sudarsono; and Hanif Mohamad Taufik, Head of Audit 3A of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), who provided insights on monitoring and evaluating the implementation of Constitutional Court decisions from a financial audit perspective.

The event continued the following day (August 30, 2024). The FGD was divided into five clusters for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the five Constitutional Court decisions. Each cluster had resource persons and stakeholders related to the decisions. The activities began with presentations on the background of the judicial review and the Constitutional Court's decisions; regulations, policies, and actions in implementing the Constitutional Court's decisions; dynamics and challenges in implementing the decisions; and the formulation of FGD outcomes. The event will conclude on Saturday (August 31, 2024) with the presentation of FGD results by the MK Secretary-General, followed by a keynote address by Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih and will be officially closed by Constitutional Justice Arsul Sani.

Author: Mimi Kartika 

Editor: N. Rosi

Translator: Agusweka Poltak Siregar (NL) 

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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