Indonesian Constitutional Court Paper Presentation (Call for Papers) 2018 Officially Opened
02 October 2018

The Constitutional Court (MK) held the 2nd Indonesian Constitutional Court International Symposium 2018 (ICCIS 2018) that had been officially opened by Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman at Tentrem Hotel, Yogyakarta. Under the theme of The Constitutional Court and Constitutionalism in Political Dynamics (Constitutional Court and Constitutionalism in Political Dynamics), ICCIS 2018 included three main activities-International Symposium, International Short Course, and Paper Presentation (Call for Papers). 

 

Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra officially opened the Paper Presentation (Call for Papers) on Tuesday (2/10). In his opening speech, he expressed his hope to the selected speakers consisting of experts, senior researchers, and junior academics, both domestic and international, that there will be transfer of knowledge and experience among the speakers and participants. 

 

In addition, Justice Saldi stressed that legal, political, and democratic developments in Indonesia in the past decade have become interesting objects of study and research. The Constitutional Court has helped accelerate the fulfillment of the constitutional rights of citizens. 

 

He also said that Indonesia's constitutional system had developed very rapidly after the constitutional reform from 1999 to 2002. At present, Indonesia is entering the democratic consolidation phase. In the practice of democracy, Indonesia has developed a very complex electoral system. In 2019, Indonesia will hold the Presidential Election and Legislative Election simultaneously for the first time. The number of registered voters for the 2019 Elections totals 195.6 million. 

 

Meanwhile, Secretary General of the Constitutional Court M. Guntur Hamzah in his report said that the best papers from this activity would be published in the Constitutional Review journal, both in print and online. "This means that your writing will be read by a wider audience, not only academics from abroad, but also constitutional justices, both in Indonesia and Asia, and other regions because the Constitutional Court has a close network of cooperation with various countries that also have a Constitutional Court," he explained. 

 

Call for Papers Discussion 

The Call of Papers under the theme "The Constitutional Court and Constitutionalism in Political Dynamics" was attended by 20 participants from various countries, including Indonesia, Australia, Colombia, France, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, Macedonia, and Malaysia.

 

Kim Jin Wook, a participant from the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Korea, in his paper entitled "The Korean Constitutional Court and Constitutionalism in Political Dynamics: Focusing on Presidential Impeachment", stated that the Korean Constitutional Court, which was supposed to be the June Democratic Movement in 1987, had changed the Korean constitutionalism. Two recent impeachment cases were decided in 2004 against President Roh and against President Park in 2017.

 

Meanwhile, a participant from the Faculty of Law of Padjadjaran University Abdurrahman Satrio in his paper expressed that alarming constitutional setbacks had occurred in Indonesia. This is evident from the actions of the government under Joko Widodo's leadership that has systematically endangered the three fundamental elements of democracy: the democratic electoral system, the right to freedom of speech and association, and the integrity of law and legal institutions. 

 

However, he continued, the weakening of democracy did not compel the community to directly label the Joko Widodo administration as an authoritarian regime, given that their actions have not completely eliminated the three elements of democracy, even though what the administration has done is clearly dangerous for democracy. 

 

"I also found another interesting fact. Some experts argue that usually rulers who make constitutional setbacks are populist leaders. Although it must be studied further, especially by political scientists, there is some evidence that shows that Joko Widodo is also a populist, so the Joko Widodo's administration's pattern of weakening democracy through constitutional mechanisms is actually not surprising because what his administration does only repeats the pattern that has occurred in many parts of the world," he said. (Bayu/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)


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