The preliminary hearing of State Owned Enterprises Law, Thursdat (22/05). Photo by MKRI/Ilham WM.
Jakarta (MKRI) – The Indonesia Human Rights Committee for Social Justice (IHCS), along with three Indonesian citizens, filed a judicial review of several articles in Law No. 1 of 2025 on the Third Amendment to Law No. 19 of 2003 on State Owned Enterprises (SOE Law) to the Constitutional Court. According to the Petitioners, Daya Anagata Nusantara Investment Management Agency (BPI Danantara) obtains privileges/superiority because they don’t hold the responsibility if they suffer a loss from investments they made.
“The transfer of SOE dividends management, which were part of the state finance, became non-state finance in casu corporate finance, and if there is a loss, it is not the state or corporate loss, which is a violation of Article 33 paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia,” legal counsel Markus Manumpak Sagala stated during the preliminary hearing of Case No. 80/PUU-XXIII/2025 on Thursday, May 22, 2025.
The Petitioners challenged Article 3F paragraph (2) letter a and b, Article 3G paragraph (2) letter b and c, Article 3H paragraph (2), Article 3X paragraph (1), and Article 71 paragraph (2) as long as the phrase “for specific purposes”, paragraph (3), and paragraph (4) of the SOE Law. They also considered the articles contrary to Article 23E paragraph (1), Article 28D paragraph (1), and Article 33 paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.
According to the Petitioners, SOE Finance is part of state finance, which is often misused and has caused state loss because many of the SOE organs are named suspects and found guilty with permanent legal sentences. Moreover, SOE finance, which is managed, is no longer part of the state’s finance, and even the management and employees of BPI Danantara are not state officials.
Meanwhile, the current BPI Danantara has the authority to fully manage the SOE, which is considered the government's proxy because it manages the state’s assets and finances under the SOE. However, according to the Petitioners, the state’s assets, which are separated under SOE and Regional SOE, remain within the context of the state’s finance. It has to be managed based on the state’s financial management.
In the petitums, the Petitioners requested the Court to declare Article 3F paragraph (2) letter a and b, Article 3G paragraph (2) letter b and c, Article 3X paragraph (1), and Article 71 paragraph (2) as long as the phrase “for specific purposes”, paragraph (3), and paragraph (4) of the SOE Law contrary to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and have no legally binding force. They also asked the Court to declare Article 3H paragraph (2) insofar the phrase “the Corporate gains or losses” of the SOE Law contrary to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and has no legally binding force as long as it is not interpreteed as “including the state’s gains and losses.”
The case was heard by the Panel of Justices presided over by Chief Justice Suhartoyo, accompanied by Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and Justice M. Guntur Hamzah. Justice Daniel stated that the Petitioners had yet to explain the norms contradictions against the articles in the 1945 Constitution used as the touchstone in posita or the petition's reasoning.
“In many petitions, they include them in petitums, but not in posita, or in reverse, they have the explanations in posita but not in petitums, it can be vague. In this note, the norms tested are to be examine whether there is relations between the posita’s explanation and the requests to the Court mentioned in petitums,” Justice Daniel stated.
Before adjourning the hearing, Chief Justice Suhartoyo stated that the Petitioners had 14 days to amend their petition. The revised petition must be submitted to the Court no later than Wednesday, June 4, 2025.
Author: Mimi Kartika.
Editor: N. Rosi
PR: Andhini SF.
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.
Thursday, May 22, 2025 | 14:59 WIB 271