Village chiefs of North Musi Rawas Regency at the ruling hearing for the judicial review of Law No. 3 of 2024 on Villages, Thursday (9/12/2024). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) dismissed a petition by nine village heads in North Musi Rawas Regency—Sundoyo, Cungh Wang, Sipirli, Jidi, Argani, Muhazoni, Madian, Paizal, and Abdul Wahid. They challenged Article 118 letter e of Law No. 3 of 2024 on the Second Amendment to Law No. 6 of 2014 on Villages. The ruling hearing for Decision No. 103/PUU-XXII/2024 was presided over by Chief Justice Suhartoyo and the other eight constitutional justices in the plenary courtroom on Thursday, September 12, 2024.

In its legal considerations delivered by Constitutional Justice Arsul Sani, the Court asserted there was no conflict between Article 118 letter e of the Village Law and the 1945 Constitution. This can be seen in the Petitioners’ petitums. Basically, they asked for their reinstatement as village heads; the annulment of the decree of the North Musirawas regent on the stipulation of term extension of village heads; the cancelation of the extension of the term of 15 village heads who were inaugurated on June 28, 2024; the order for the Ministry of Home Affairs and the North Musirawas regent to immediately amend the decree of the North Musirawas regent on the stipulation of term extension of village heads for 2 years.

The Petitioners’ petitums were not common for judicial review, because those are the authority of other institutions, not the Constitutional Court. “As the Petitioners’ petition is unusual and not in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 paragraph (2) letter d of Constitutional Court Regulation No. 2 of 2021, according to the Court, the Petitioners’ posita and petitums are unclear or vague, which at the same time causes the petition to be unclear or vague (obscuur). Thus, [it] is not considered further,” said Justice Arsul reading out the Court’s legal considerations.

Also read:

Nine Village Heads of North Musi Rawas Request Term Extension

Inauguration Delayed, 14 Elected Village Chiefs Challenge Village Law

Nine North Musi Rawas Village Heads Revise Petition on Term Extension

At the preliminary hearing on Thursday, August 8, the Petitioners argued that based on Article 118 letter e of the Village Law, their terms, which ended on February 2024, could have been extended for two years without question. However, their terms were not extended and new officials were inaugurated after their terms had ended. In their petitums, the Petitioners request that their terms be extended following Article 118 letter (e) of the Village Law and the decree of the North Musi Rawas Regent (South Sumatera Province) on the stipulation of the extension of the Petitioners’ village heads’ terms be annulled. 

Author            : Sri Pujianti
Editor             : N. Rosi
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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