The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia (MK) invited the Vice President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Turkey, Mr. Engin Yildirim, to be the speaker in the General Lecture about “The Constitutional Court and the Protection of Citizen Constitutional Rights” held in the Faculty of Law, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, on Tuesday (2/10). Previously, on Monday, 1 October 2018, he was also a speker for “The 2nd Indonesian Constitutional Court International Symposium” under the theme “The Constitutional Court and Constitutionalism in Political Dynamics” in Tentrem Hotel, Yogyakarta.

During the General Lecture, there were about 150 students attended and got the opportunity to learn about both the Indonesian and Turkish Constitutional Court. The moderator of the event, Mr. Andi Sandi, explained that the Indonesian and Turkish Constitutional Court do have similiraties, but at the same time they also have differences. On this topic, Mr. Engin Yilidirim stated that there were 17 (seventeen) Constitutional Justices in Turkey. That was significantly different from Indonesia which only had 9 (nine) Constitutional Justices. He further explained that the Constitutional Justices in Turkey were not appointed by either the President, Supreme Court, or People’s Consultative Assembly like in Indonesia.

Other than Mr. Engin Yildirim, the General Lecture also had another prominent speaker, Mrs. Enny Nurbaningsih. The newly appointed Constitutional Justice was previously a lecturer in the Faculty of Law Gadjah Mada University teaching Constitutional Law subject before she was chosen as a Constitutional Justice to replace Mrs. Maria Farida Indrati who had reached her retirement age on 13 Agustus 2018. During the occasion, she highlighted the existence of Board of Ethics in the Constitutional Court (Dewan Etik MK) as a very good thing according to her. She explained that not all the Constitutional Courts have a professional ethic codes for Constitutional Justices like in Indonesia. “The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Turkey does not have ethic codes,” she said. During the Question and Answer session, a student expressed his appreciation towards the Indonesia Constitutional Court for its performance in handling the regional head electional disputes (PILKADA). Responding to the comment, Enny said that it would be a lot better for the Court to focus on its main authority, and that was judicial review.

At the end of the occasion, Andi Sandi closed it by sharing a quote related to the theme and discussion they had, “A strong, independent, impartial, and professional Constitutional Court can give a strong protection to the citizen.”