Court Rejects Honorary Professorship Appointment Review

Chief Justice Suhartoyo leading the Decision Pronouncement Hearing of judicial review of Law Number 12 of 2012 on Higher Education, Thursday (26/09) at the Plenary Courtroom. Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

JAKARTA, MKRI – The Constitutional Court (MK) refused a judicial review petition on Article 72 paragraph (5) of Law Number 12 of 2012 on Higher Education (HE Law) on Thursday, September 26, 2024, at the Pleanary Courtroom. Case Number 109/PUU-XXII/2024 was filed by a lecturer and advocate, Rega Felix, questioning the appointment of an honorary professor.

Article 72 paragraph (5) of the HE Law reads, “The Minister may appoint a person with an extraordinary competence at the academic rank of professor upon the proposal of the Higher Education Institution.”

In the legal considerations delivered by Justice M. Guntur Hamzah, the Court has clearly and unequivocally responded that the appointment of honorary professors is the domain of the minister in this case the minister responsible for the implementation of higher education [vide Article 7 paragraph (1) of the Higher Education Law] through the establishment of ministerial regulations [vide Article 72 paragraph (6) of the Higher Education Law]. This means that Article 72 paragraph (5) of the Higher Education Law, which recognizes the existence of honorary professors, does not stand alone, but is related to the next provision, namely Article 72 paragraph (6) of the Higher Education Law which delegates the regulation of among others regarding honorary professors that are technical in nature in the form of ministerial regulations, so that there are standardization and extraordinary competency assessment procedures that must be met by someone to become an honorary professor.

Justice Guntur said that the delegation of authority to the minister in the case of Article 72 paragraph (6) of the Higher Education Law is permissible as stipulated in Appendix II number 211 of Law Number 12 of 2011 concerning the Formation of Legislation (Law Number 12 of 2011) which states “Delegation of regulatory authority from the Law to ministers, leaders of non-ministerial government agencies, or officials at the same level as ministers is limited to regulations that are administrative technical in nature.” On this basis, Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Regulation Number 44 of 2021 on the Appointment of Honorary Professors at Higher Education Institutions was issued, which, among other things, revokes and declares invalid the Regulation of the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Number 38 of 2021. Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Regulation Number 44 of 2024, among others, regulates the procedures for appointment, term of office, requirements, rights, and obligations, as well as dismissal and prohibitions for honorary professors.

Therefore, without the Court intending to assess the legality of the Regulation of the Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology Number 44 of 2024, it not only has a basis for its establishment but also protects the honor and dignity of the highest academic level, in this case, the title of professor. This is because just as the requirements and mechanisms for obtaining academic professorships at the highest academic level are stricter than those for academic positions lower than professors. The requirements and mechanisms for appointing honorary professorships are also stricter than those for appointing honorary doctorates appointed by universities that meet the criteria because the minister appoints honorary professors at the proposal of universities that meet the criteria.

Honorary Professorship Title

Furthermore, Justice Guntur said, related to the title of honorary professor, if it is to be included or used, the Court, in the consideration of the decision, has given an order (judicial order) that it must be written as Prof. (H.C.) followed by the name of the institution of the university that gives the title. These considerations have been accommodated in the Regulation of Minister of Education and Culture and Research and Technology Number 44 of 2024. In this case, Article 43 paragraph (2) letter a of the Regulation of Minister of Education and Culture and Research and Technology Number 44 of 2024 states, “The inclusion of the academic position of Honorary Professor by stating the position of Honorary Professor in full or abbreviated as Prof. (hon.), accompanied by the name of the College. Thus, although there are differences in the way the title is mentioned/written and the way the academic professor is mentioned/written, these differences cannot be said to be discriminatory because they have been treated differently to something that is indeed different.

“Without intending to assess the legality of the Regulation of Minister of Education and Culture and Research and Technology Number 44 of 2024, according to the Court, its existence is a juridical instrument as a further regulation of Article 72 paragraph (6) of Law Number 12 of 2012 which is related to Article 72 paragraph (5) of Law Number 12 of 2012 which is questioned for its constitutionality by the Petitioner. In this case, the existence of the Regulation of Minister of Education and Culture and Research and Technology Number 44 of 2024 as far as it relates to the regulation of honorary professors is of an administrative technical nature to ensure the standardization and procedures for the appointment of honorary professors so that they can be accounted for,” Justice Guntur said.

Competence Requirements

With regard to the above, according to Guntur, the Court needs to emphasize that although there is the Regulation of Minister of Education and Culture and Research and Technology Number 44 of 2024 which includes the regulation on the honorary professorship, the essence should not reduce the nature and content of the law that underlies the establishment of the ministerial regulation, namely that only a person with extraordinary competence can be appointed by the minister as an honorary professor upon the proposal of the university [vide Article 72 paragraph (5) of Law Number 12 of 2012]. Within the limits of reasonable reasoning, the requirement of extraordinary competence is intended so that honorary professorships are awarded strictly and very selectively.

With regard to the Petitioner's petition requesting the Court to declare Article 72 paragraph (5) of the Higher Education Law contrary to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and has no binding legal force conditionally as long as it is not interpreted as “The Minister may appoint a person with extraordinary competence as proven by scientific work or other monumental work that is very special in his field and has international recognition at the level of academic position of professor at the proposal of the Higher Education Institution”, according to the Court it is not in accordance with the nature of the awarding of honorary professors because the awarding of the title is based on an assessment of extraordinary competence.

Therefore, the Petitioner's request in the petition is basically not an issue of the constitutionality of the norm but rather an aspiration to tighten the requirements for the appointment of a person to the position of honorary professor. However, the Petitioner's interpretation of the provisions of Article 72 paragraph (5) of the Higher Education Law can actually narrow the meaning of the norm in question because proving one's competence can be done both based on academic work and with achievements based on experiences that are relevant to the extraordinary competencies that can be achieved by those who have taken part directly in professional life in society. In addition, placing recognition only on the assessment of the international community alone, actually denies national assessment and recognition by the nation itself which is no less important. Therefore, in the midst of the rapid development of science and technology, it is necessary to narrow the distance between the pure academic world and the professional world played by practitioners to maximize the fulfillment of the right to benefit from the development of science and technology guaranteed by the constitution [vide Article 28C paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia].

Moreover, the formulation of the petition is the same as the requirements for professors who can be appointed as distinguished professors. Article 49 of Law Number 14 of 2005 states, “Professors who have scientific works or other monumental works that are very special in their fields and receive international recognition can be appointed as distinguished professors.” Thus, if the petition is granted, there is no difference between honorary professors and distinguished professors who come from academic professors. Not only that, such a petition, if granted, has the potential to cause legal uncertainty because it becomes difficult to distinguish the requirements to become an honorary professor and a distinguished professor. However, in practice, as an academic position that requires extraordinary competence, the fulfillment of these requirements must be the main concern in selecting a person to be appointed as an honorary professor. These requirements should be applied strictly in accordance with the provisions of Article 72 paragraph (5) of the Higher Education Law. The application of such strict requirements is carried out by universities because the proposal for honorary professorships is submitted by universities to the minister after going through a strict and highly selective selection process. In this case, even though a person is proposed by a university to become an honorary professor if the minister assesses that the proposed person does not meet the requirements of having extraordinary competence, the minister can reject the proposal.

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Court Rejects Honorary Professorship Appointment Review