Petitioner Marthen Y. Siwabessy and his legal counsel during the Decree Pronouncement Hearing at the Plenary Courtroom, Thursday (14/11). Photo by MKRI/Panji.

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Jakarta, MKRI – The Constitutional Court issued a decree, stating that it has no authority to decide on the petition to review Article 7A of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia filed by Marthen Y. Siwabessy on Thursday, November 14, 2024.

The Court in the legal consideration of Case Number 140/PUU-XXII/2024 pronounced by Chief Justice Suhartoyo stated that on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, the Court had held a Panel Hearing with the agenda of Preliminary Examination. In the proceedings, the Petitioner requested that the Court provide grammatical, historical, sociological, systematic, literal, and authentic interpretations of the phrase “disgraceful acts” in Article 7A of the 1945 Constitution so as to obtain a comprehensive interpretation and fulfill the principles of clarity and completeness of formulation, so that it is easily understood and comprehended by both the Petitioner and all Indonesian people including the President and/or Vice President.

In the hearing, the Court has provided advice in accordance with the provisions of Article 39 of the Constitutional Court Law and Article 41 paragraph (3) of Constitutional Court Regulation Number 2 of 2021 concerning Procedure in Law Review Cases (PMK Number 2 of 2021). The Court also provided an opportunity for the Petitioner to revise his petition.

Then, on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, the Court held a hearing with the agenda of Petition Revision. It turned out that the arguments of the Petitioner's petition were still related to the request for constitutional interpretation of the phrase "despicable acts" in Article 7A of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.

"Regarding the petition, because the Petitioner requests the Court to interpret the norms in the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, in this case Article 7A, while based on Article 24C paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, which states, among others, "The Court has the authority to hear at the first and last instance where the decision is final to review the law against the Constitution ...". This means that the Court's authority to interpret the constitution cannot be done directly against the Constitution, except through testing a law against the Constitution. Thus, the Court is not authorized to examine the petition,” Chief Justice Suhartoyo said in a hearing held in the Plenary Courtroom.

Based on the provisions of Article 48A paragraph (1) letter a of the Constitutional Court Law, it states, "The Constitutional Court issues a decree in the event that: a. the petition is not within the authority of the Constitutional Court to hear the case requested" and Article 75 paragraph (1) letter a of PMK 2/2021 states, "The Court issues a decision in the form of a Decree in the event that: a. The petition is not within the authority of the Court".

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Questioning Vague Meaning of Moral Turpitude in President Impeachment Requirement

Petitioner Clarifies Legal Arguments on Moral Turpitude in President Impeachment Requirements

During the preliminary hearing on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, the Petitioner argued that the phrase has the potential to harm his constitutional rights because he cannot use his constitutional rights to give an objective assessment of the acts and statements of the President and/or Vice President due to the absence of clarity, complete formulation, and strict limitation regarding the phrase "moral turpitude" as stipulated in the article. Accordingly, the Petitioner opined that the power of the president and/or vice president must have limitations, including on the interpretation of the phrase “moral turpitude,” which must have clarity, complete formulation, and strict limitation.

The Petitioner opined that with a strict limitation on the phrase “moral turpitude”, the president and/or vice president will understand and comprehend all of their acts and statements which belong to “moral turpitude” as stipulated in the Constitution. Therefore, the life of the state and nation and the implementation of state governance can be better organized.

Author: Utami Argawati

Editor: Lulu Anjarsari P.

PR: Tiara Agustina

Translator: Rizky Kurnia Chaesario

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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