Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat (center), M. Guntur Hamzah (left), and Ridwan Mansyur (right) at a preliminary hearing for the judicial review of the Election Law, Wednesday (9/4/2024). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — Defendants in an election crime case and elected legislative candidate for 2024 – 2029, Indra Wiliams Liempepas and Christovel Liempepas (Petitioners I and II), have filed a material judicial review petition of Article 482 paragraph (1) of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections (Election Law) to the Constitutional Court (MK). The article concerns the deadline for the resolution of election crimes by the district court after the legal brief is submitted.

Article 482 paragraph (1) of the Election Law reads, “A district court shall assess, decide, and issue a verdict of an electoral crime at the latest 7 (seven) days after receiving the case file submitted by the general litigator and may be conducted without the presence of the defendant of the crime.” The Petitioners believe the a quo article contradict Article 28D paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution.

On June 19, 2024 with Decision No. 138/Pid.Sus/2024/PN Mnd, the Manado District Court declared the Petitioners having been legitimately and convincingly committed an electoral crime as the public prosecutors charged. The Petitioners then appealed the verdict. However, the Manado Hight Court affirmed the district court’s ruling through Decision No. 78/PID/2024/PT MND.

Through their legal counsel, the Petitioners stated that the Manado Hight Court only had seven days to examine, adjudicate, and decide an electoral crime after the legal brief had been submitted, as per Article 482 paragraph (1) of the Election Law. However, they asserted that it had disregarded their rights as the legal brief had been submitted on May 30 and registered on the next day, along with all decrees. Meanwhile, the trial did not start until June 7 and ended with a final decision on June 19. This, they stressed, had passed the seven-day deadline.

The Petitioners argued that Article 482 paragraph (1) of the Election Law is ambiguous, thus has harmed him due to the decisions by the judges of the Manado District Court and the Manado Hight Court. They petitioned for judicial review of the article so that it would be interpreted clearly to prevent any harm on the community and relevant elements.

“In the end, Article 482 paragraph (1) of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections is regarded as ambiguous so it does not reflect legal certainty,” said legal counsel Kris Tumbel virtually before Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat (panel chair), M. Guntur Hamzah, and Ridwan Mansyur at the preliminary hearing for case No. 117/PUU-XXII/2024.

Justices Advice

Justice Ridwan asserted that the Petitioners should connect the decision of the Manado District Court and other legislation aside from the Election Law.

“Do not focus on just this one law, this one sentence, that you ask the decision (of the Manado District Court) be annulled,” he said.

Meanwhile, Justice Arief stated that the petition had not met the requirements laid out in the Constitutional Court Regulation (PMK) No. 2 of 2021 on the judicial review of laws. He believes that the petition should be reworked based on the regulation.

Before adjourning the session, Justice Arief informed the Petitioners that they would have 14 days to revise the petition, which must be submitted to the Court by Thursday, September 19, 2024 at 15:00 WIB.

Author         : Mimi Kartika
Editor          : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR              : Raisa Ayuditha Marsaulina
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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