Lita Linggayati Gading, the Principal Petitioner, attended the pronouncement of ruling hearing on the judicial review of the Law concerning the Financial Rights of State Officials on Monday, March 16, at the courtroom. Photo: MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) —The Court has declared inadmissible a petition for judicial review of Law No.12 of 1980 concerning the Financial/Administrative Rights of the Leadership and Members of the Highest/High State Institutions and Former Officials thereof (Law No.12/1980) against the 1945 Constitution. The petition was filed by Lita Linggayati Gading and Syamsul Jahidin as Petitioners in Case No. 176/PUU-XXIII/2025.

In its legal considerations as delivered by Constitutional Justice Anwar Usman, the Court held that, with respect to the constitutional issues raised by the Petitioners as outlined in Paragraph [3.13] above, the matter concerning the alleged unconstitutionality of the contested norm has previously been adjudicated by the Court in Decision No. 191/PUU-XXIII/2025.

The Court further considered that, based on the operative provisions of the aforementioned decision, Law 12/1980 has been declared contrary to the 1945 Constitution and devoid of binding legal force, as stipulated in Constitutional Court Decision No. 191/PUU-XXIII/2025. Notwithstanding that the Court granted a grace period of up to two (2) years from the pronouncement of the decision, during which Law 12/1980 remains in force and retains binding legal effect, the norm challenged by the Petitioners, being part of Law 12/1980 that has been declared unconstitutional, has effectively lost its existence. This is because the a quo norm no longer corresponds to the formulation of the provision as challenged by the Petitioners.

Accordingly, the Court held that the Petitioners’ petition a quo has lost its object.

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Previously, Lita Linggayati Gading and Syamsul Jahidin filed a petition for judicial review of Law No. 12 of 1980 concerning the Financial/Administrative Rights of the Leadership and Members of the Highest/High State Institutions, as well as Former Leadership and Members of High State Institutions (Law 12/1980) against the 1945 Constitution. The Petitioners challenged the constitutionality of Article 1 letter a, Article 1 letter f, and Article 12 paragraph (1) of Law 12/1980, which regulate financial entitlements and pension rights for members of the House of Representatives (DPR). According to the Petitioners, these provisions give rise to disparity and are inconsistent with the principles of social justice, equality before the law, and the constitutional objective of promoting general welfare.

The Petitioners argued that the phrase “Members of the House of Representatives” in Article 1 letter a of Law 12/1980 creates injustice by allowing DPR members to receive lifetime pensions despite serving only a single term. The Petitioners further asserted that the total pension benefits for DPR members amount to approximately Rp226 billion, entirely sourced from the State Budget (APBN), and are disproportionate when compared to pension schemes applicable to Supreme Court Justices, members of the Audit Board (BPK), civil servants (ASN), and members of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and National Police (Polri), all of which require significantly longer years of service. The Petitioners also drew comparisons with practices in several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, which implement pension systems based on tenure and contributions, thereby indicating that lifetime pensions for political office holders are not an inherent necessity.

Through their petition, the Petitioners requested the Constitutional Court to declare the provisions of Law 12/1980 granting lifetime pension rights to members of the DPR as contrary to the 1945 Constitution and, therefore, lacking binding legal force.(*)

Author             : Utami Argawati

Editor              : Lulu Anjarsari

PR                   : Andhini S. F.

Translator        : Nies Lindy

Decision No. 176/PUU-XXIII/2025 (in Indonesian)

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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