In the second session of the Sixth International Short Course of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACC) on Thursday, August 10, 2023, I Dewa Gede Palguna, former constitutional justice of 2003-2008 and 2015-2020, Secretary-General Murat Sen of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Türkiye, and head of the Doctoral Programs of the Law Faculty of Universitas Sebelas Maret Hartiwiningsih delivered their presentations on “Digital Transformation and its Role in Improving Democracy.”

Palguna said that currently the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia is also authorized to decide disputes over the results of regional head elections. “I would like to share my two cents that we agree that the main elements of the Constitutional Court’s authority in this digital era are transparency, accountability, and access to justice for all,” he emphasized.

In terms of digitization, he said, from the beginning the Constitutional Court was guided by its vision of becoming a modern and trusted judicial institution. “With such a vision, [the Court] made extraordinary efforts to maximize access to the court for people with interest in the judiciary,” he said.

Palguna believes the legislation has accommodated the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the judiciary, thus providing very broad and convenient access to justice seekers throughout Indonesia. With the online application system, parties who want to litigate do not have to come directly to the court.

“They need only to file their petition electronically. This is very helpful because it not only expands access to the courts but also provides efficiency and effectiveness,” he explained.

In the next presentation, Hartiwiningsih said globalization has brought modern society to the era of information technology or industrial revolution 5.0, where humankind lives amidst rapidly-developing technology in the fields of law, politics, economy, science and technology, culture, education, and social science.

Globalization has made all aspects of human life more advanced, better, more prosperous, easier, and faster in global, transparent, borderless, interconnected, and interdependent ecosystem. The prosperity enjoyed by the global community is thanks to none other than digital transformation, which has penetrated the life of society, nation, and state. In terms of economy, there are now e-wallets e-Money, OVO, and Gopay; online transactions through e-banking; e-commerce; and transactions with debit and credit cards.

She also talked about digital transformation in the legal world such as e-Court, the digitalization of regulations, e-participation through which the public can provide input in lawmaking, e-enactment through which requesting enactment of regulations can be done online, e-litigation that manages information about hearings in the Constitutional Court. All these are based on information technology and aimed at optimizing the dissemination of information related to court hearings.