Chief Justice Suhartoyo at the ruling for the material judicial review of Law No. 2 of 2003 on the National Police for case No. 84/PUU-XXIII/2025, Thursday (7/3/2025). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) has decided to reject the material judicial review petition of Law No. 2 of 2002 on the National Police filed by Syamsul Jahidin and Ernawati. The ruling hearing for Decision No. 84/PUU-XXIII/2025 took place on Thursday, July 3, 2025 in the plenary courtroom.

The Petitioners challenged the constitutionality of Article 18 paragraph (1) of the Police Law and its elucidation. It granted police officers the authority to “act according to their own discretion.”

The Petitioners believe the phrases “public interest” and “their own discretion” could be interpreted in multiple ways, do not have clear boundaries, and allow police officers to abuse their authority, thus are against the principle of legal certainty under Article 28D paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution.

In its legal consideration, delivered by Constitutional Justice M. Guntur Hamzah, the Court contended that the discretion referred to in the phrases are necessary to implementing the police duty of keeping order and safety in society. The Court emphasizes that said article is not standalone, but is limited and explained in detail in the next paragraph and in said article’s elucidation. This discretion is applicable only under emergency and must follow statutory legislation and code of ethics.

“This provision has provided strict limitation, so police officers cannot act arbitrarily,” Justice Guntur said.

The Court further held that the phrase “act at their own discretion” means that the police officers’ discretion to act or not is based on the necessity to keep social order and safety. This is inseparable from the Court’s legal consideration for Decision No. 60/PUU-XIX/2021 on Article 16 paragraph (2) of the Police Law.

For that reason, the Court declared the Petitioners’ claim that the phrases “public interest” and “their own discretion” in Article 18 paragraph (1) of the Police Law is against the principle of legal certainty legally groundless, and rejected the entirety of the petition.

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At a preliminary hearing on Monday, June 2, 2025, advocate Syamsul Jahidin as Petitioner I argued that the article and its elucidation could potentially infringe upon his constitutional rights. According to him, the phrase “act according to their own discretion” grants excessive latitude that could justify actions under the guise of public interest, even when such actions might in fact serve personal or political agendas.

The Petitioners also criticized the vague definition of “public interest” in the provision, which, in their view, enables subjective interpretation. “This phrase should be a legal concept with defined boundaries and must be guided by objective norms, not left entirely to officers’ discretion,” Syamsul emphasized.

They also pointed to weak oversight mechanisms in the implementation of the article. While internal oversight from the Professional and Security Division (Propam) and external supervision by the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) exist, in practice, officers can still use the article as a shield to justify excessive or unlawful conduct.

In the Petitioners’ view, this situation undermines legal certainty, justice, and public benefit, principles that should be safeguarded by the state. Syamsul also cited his personal experience in West Kalimantan, where he faced difficulties obtaining information and legal clarity from police institutions, especially from the Professional and Security Division at the West Kalimantan Regional Police.

As such, the Petitioners requested the Court to declare Article 18 paragraph (1) of the Police Law and its elucidation unconstitutional and not legally binding.

Author         : Utami Argawati
Editor          : N. Rosi
PR               : Raisa Ayuditha Marsaulina
Translator     : Yuniar Widiastuti/Yuanna Sisilia (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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