The Court delivering the verdict for Masail Ishmad Mawaqif's petition on Article 3 letter g of Law No. 18 of 2003 on Advocate, Friday (1/3/2025). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA (MKRI)—The Court rejected Masail Ishmad Mawaqif's judicial review petition in its entirety, which challenged Article 3 letter g of Law No. 18 of 2003 on Advocate (Advocate Law). The ruling hearing for Case No. 148/PUU-XXII/2024 took place on Friday, January 3, 2025.

Delivering the Court’s legal considerations, Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra stated that for the frontier, outermost, and least developed regions, often referred to as 3T region (terdepan, terluar, tertinggal), in which advocate office is not available for having an internship, the phrase “advocate office” as stipulated in Article 3 paragraph 1 letter g of Advocates Law may include  Legal Aid Institution (Lembaga Bantuan Hukum or LBH) or civil society organization with permanent legal aid organ/unit to practice advocacy. This matter is in accordance with Law No. 16 of 2011 on Legal Aid.

In addition, such legal institutions must be managed by advocates, which only applies if no advocate office exists in the 3T region.

In this context, the Court explained that the Petitioner’s request to open internship opportunities at pro-Justitia institutions cannot be justified as a challenge to the norms in the said article. If that is the case, it cannot be included within the framework of Article 28H paragraph 2 of the 1945 Constitution.

This norm provides protection for citizens with limitations/disabilities; therefore, special measures are taken to achieve equal opportunities and benefits for equality and justice. Thus, the Petitioner’s argument that the norms of Article 3 paragraph 1 letter g of Law No. 18 of 2003 are unconstitutional to the 1945 Constitution and have no binding legal force, as long as they are not interpreted as “The internships may be implemented in institutions that perform pro justitia,” is legally unreasonable.

“Based on all legal considerations, the norms in Article 3 paragraph 10 letter g of the Advocate Law remain constitutional with the legal certainty for every citizen in the process of becoming an advocate,” Deputy Chief Justice Saldi explained.

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At the preliminary hearing on Wednesday, the Petitioner argued that Article 3 letter g of the Advocate Law contradicts Article 28C paragraph (1), Article 28D paragraph (1), Article 28H paragraph (2), and Article 31 of the 1945 Constitution.

He recounted that he had been an apprentice in the trial recording department of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for three consecutive years. He assumed that an internship begins when a person has completed studies at the Faculty of Law or after conducting Special Education for the Advocate Profession (PKPA), or after taking the Advocate Professional Examination (UPA). From these requirements, Masail has carried out PKPA as required by Article 3 paragraph (1) of the Advocate Law. However, the norm is not explicitly explained in the derivative rules on the exact implementation time of the internship. It creates confusion for every law student in starting the internship.

To further confuse the Petitioner, so far, the rules for implementing internships have been left to the advocate organization ('AO'), as stipulated in the Indonesian Advocates Association Regulation No. 1 of 2015 on the Implementation of Advocate Internships. However, many AOs still have not clearly regulated the rules of this internship; even the number of AOs and advocate offices makes it difficult for the Petitioner to apply for an internship at one of the advocate offices with different backgrounds from the advocate organization.

“For this reason, the Petitioner requests that the Court declare that Article 3 paragraph (1) letter g of the Advocates Law is not contrary to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia insofar as it is interpreted as ‘the implementation of internships can be carried out at institutions that carry out pro justitia functions,’” said the Petitioner reading out one of the petitums.

Author            : Sri Pujianti
Editor             : N. Rosi
PR                 : Fauzan F.
Translators     : Ryan Alfian/ (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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