Legal counsel Vernandus Hamongangan (right) during the material judicial review hearing of Law No. 37 of 2024 on Batanghari Regency in Jambi Province against the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, Tuesday (17/12). Photo by MKRI/Fauzan.

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Jakarta (MKRI) – The Constitutional Court held another material judicial review hearing of Law No. 37 of 2024 on Batanghari Regency in Jambi Province against the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. The agenda of the hearing was to hear the petition revision filed by Muhammad Fadhil Arief, the Regent of Batang Hari Regency, and Rahmad Hasrofi, the Chairman of the Batang Hari Regional House of Representatives. The Petitioners questioned the constitutionality of the writing of “Kabupaten Batang Hari” that changed into “Kabupaten Batanghari” in Law No. 37 of 2024 on Batanghari Regency in Jambi Province (Batanghari Regency Law).

In the hearing of Case No. 166/PUU-XXII/2024 led by Justice Arief Hidayat, Vernandus Hamonangan said that the first revision was to review all phrases of Batanghari Regency and Article 2 of Law No. 37 of 2024 on Batanghari Regency in Jambi Province against the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.

“Then, there is a revision on the Petitioners’ identity, where there are two more petitioners, namely Petitioner III, Fathuddin Abdi, and Sumantri as the Petitioner IV. With this petition revision, we also amend the position of Petitioner I and Petitioner II as individual citizens of the Republic of Indonesia, Your Honor,” Vernandus stated.

In addition, Vernandus continued, the court's authorities were also revised based on Constitutional Court Regulation No. 2 of 2021. Regarding the posita, Vernandus mentioned that they added historical notes of the Batanghari Regency on pages 11 to 14.

In the revised petitum, the Petitioners ask the Court to declare that the phrase “Batanghari Regency” in Batanghari Regency Law contradicts the 1945 Constitution and has no legally binding power as long as it is not interpreted as “Batang Hari Regency”. In addition, they also request to declare Article 2 of the Batanghari Regency Law, which states “the date of March 29, 1956, as the establishment date of the Batanghari Regency based on Law No. 12 of 1956 on the Establishment of Autonomous Region in Central Sumatera Province (State Gazette No. 25 of 1956)” contradicts the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and has no legally binding power as long as it is not interpreted as: “the date of December 1, 1948 is the date of establishment of the Batang Hari Regency based on the Regulation of Central Government Commissioner in Bukittinggi No. 81/KOM/U on November 30, 1948, on the Establishment of Regencies in Central Sumatera Province”.

Also read: Polemics over the Naming of Batang Hari Regency Brought to Judicial Review

In the preliminary hearing, the Petitioners argued that the phrase “Batanghari Regency” (without space) in the law, which according to the Petitioners shall be written as “Batang Hari Regency” (with space). The Petitioners considered that the inappropriate writing had caused various administrative and cultural issues. In addition, the change in writing may disrupt the administration of the Batang Hari Regency, including documentation management, data verification, data administration, and official documentation, such as official letters, statistics, and historical archives.

The petitioners requested the Court to declare that the writing “Batanghari Regency” in Law No. 37 of 2024 contradicts the 1945 Constitution and does not have legally binding power. They also proposed that Article 2 be changed to mention the date of establishment according to the historical facts.

Author: Utami Argawati
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR: Fauzan Febriyan

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 prevails.

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