Initiating Constitutional Morality: Political Intervention, Ethical Reinforcement, and Constitutional Court Decisions in Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31078/consrev1028Keywords:
Constitutional Court Decisions, Constitutional Morality, Ethics, Independence, Political InterventionAbstract
Constitutional morality is essential for the branches of power (Parliament and Government) to ensure impartiality, political insularity, and institutional stability for the judicial power, especially the Constitutional Court and constitutional morality as a guide and benchmark for constitutional judges to form ethics and decisions that reflect the Constitution. This article seeks to answer crucial questions about how forms of intervention and ethical problems in the Constitutional Court do not reflect constitutional morality and how the idea of limiting intervention and strengthening the ethics and decisions of the Constitutional Court through constitutional morality. The author uses normative legal research methods with statutory, conceptual, comparative, and case approaches. The results of this study are in line with the hypothesis of the argumentation that the author builds, showing that the lack of application of constitutional morality by Parliament, Government, and Constitutional Court Judges has threatened the independence of the Constitutional Court, has damaged the judicial dignity of the Constitutional Court, and making the Constitutional Court a means of political insurance. Several cases have shown that parliamentary and government intervention in the Constitutional Court is inevitable. Likewise, ethical violations and decisions of the Constitutional Court that do not reflect the Constitution add to the complexity of the current problems of the Constitutional Court. For this reason, the author recommends that the elaboration of the concept of limiting intervention and strengthening the ethics and decisions of the Constitutional Court can be accomplished in several ways, including statutory provisions regarding the prohibition of conflicts of interest and the ethics of state administrators, the construction of ethical institutions/courts as external institutions in enforcing and supervising ethics, reconstructing the process of selecting and dismissing constitutional judges fairly and transparently by involving public oversight, and guaranteeing and legitimizing the Constitutional Court in exercising administrative and financial autonomy independently.
References
Aggarwal, Urvika. “Situating Dworkin in Indian Jurisprudence: An Analysis with Respect to Constitutional Morality.” SSRN, May 1, 2020: 1–9.
Albert, Richard. “Does The World Need An International Constitutional Court?” Rutgers International Law & Human Rights Journal. Jurisprudence Lecture by Edward J. Bloustein, 2023.
Arizona, Yance, Tria Noviantika, and Mochamad Adli Wafi. “Skandal Mahkamah Keluarga: Kaminasi Publik Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Nomor 90/PUU-XXI/2023 Mengenai Batas Usia Calon Presiden Dan Wakil Presiden [Scandal in the Family Court: Public Commentary on the Constitutional Court Ruling No. 90/PUU-XXI/2023 Regarding the Age Limit for Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates].” Yogyakarta: Departemen Hukum Tata Negara, Fakultas Hukum UGM, 2023.
Asshiddiqie, Jimly. “Kedudukan Mahkamah Konstitusi Dalam Struktur Ketatanegaraan Indonesia [The Position of the Constitutional Court in the
Constitutional Structure of Indonesia].” In Mahkamah Konstitusi: Bunga Rampai Mahkamah Konstitusi RI [The Constitutional Court: A Compendium of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia], Jakarta: Setjen dan Kepaniteraan Mahkamah Konstitusi RI, 2005.
Asshiddiqie, Jimly. Peradilan Etik dan Etika Konstitusi: Perspektif Baru Tentang Rule of Law and Rule of Ethics & Constitutional Law and Constitutional Ethics [Ethical Judiciary and Constitutional Ethics: A New Perspective on the Rule of Law and Rule of Ethics & Constitutional Law and Constitutional Ethics]. 2014.
Asshiddiqie, Jimly. Oligarki Dan Totalitarianisme Baru [Oligarchy and New Totalitarianism]. Jakarta: LP3ES, 2022.
Barata, Atep Adya, and Bambang Trihartanto. Kekuasaan Pengelolaan Keuangan Negara/Daerah [The Power of State/Regional Financial Management]. Jakarta: Elex Media Komputindo, 2004.
Bhongale, Jay Kumar. “Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Constitutional Morality.” SSRN, January 4, 2023. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4312052.
Bumin, Kirill M., Kirk A. Randazzo, and Lee D. Walker. “Institutional Viability and High Courts: A Comparative Analysis of Post-Communist States.”
Australian Journal of Political Science 44, no. 1 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1080/10361140802657052.
Butt, Simon. “The Function of Judicial Dissent in Indonesia’s Constitutional Court.” Constitutional Review 4, no. 1 (2018).
Chandrachud, Abhinav. “The Many Meanings of Constitutional Morality.” SSRN, January 18, 2020. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3521665.
Dicey, A.V. Pengantar Studi Hukum Konstitusi-Terjemahan [Introduction to Constitutional Law Studies - Translation]. Bandung: Nusa Media, 2015.
Dixon, R., and A. Stone. “The Australian High Court and the Relationship between Appeals and References.” Sydney Law Review 27, no. 4 (2005).
Dixon, Rosalind, and David Landau. Abusive Constitutional Borrowing: Legal Globalization and the Subversion of Liberal Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.
Dworkin, Ronald. Freedom’s Law: The Moral Reading of the American Constitution. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996.
Eisgruber, Cristopher L., and Lawrence G. Sager. “Religious Liberty And The Moral Structure Of Constitutional Rights.” Cambridge University Press Legal Theory 6 (2000): 253–68.
Falaakh, Mohammad Fajrul. Beberapa Pemikiran Untuk Revisi UU Komisi Yudisial Dalam Komisi Yudisial [Some Thoughts on the Revision of the Judicial Commission Law Within the Judicial Commission]. In Bunga Rampai Refleksi Satu Tahun Komisi Yudisial RI [A Compendium of Reflections on the First Year of the Judicial Commission of the Republic of Indonesia]. Jakarta: Komisi Yudisial.
Fleming, James E. “Fidelity to Our Imperfect Constitution.” Fordham Law Review 65, no. 4 (1997): 1335–55.
Gadamer, Hans Georg. Kebenaran Dan Metode [Truth and Method]. Translated. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2010.
Greenwood-Reeves, J. “He Democracy Dichotomy: Framing the Hong Kong 2019 Street Protests as Legitimacy Counterclaims against an Incoherent Constitutional Morality.” Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law 21, no. 1 (2019): 35–62. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-02101003.
Hardiman, F. Budi. Deliberative Democracy. 3rd ed. Yogyakarta: PT Kanisius, 2023.
International Commission of Jurists. Judicial Accountability: A Practitioner’s Guide No. 13. Geneva, Switzerland: International Commission of Jurists, 2016.
Isra, S., and F. Amsari. “Perubahan Konstitusi Melalui Tafsir Hakim [Constitutional Amendments through Judicial Interpretation].” Bphn. Go. Id, 2019. http://bphn.go.id/data/documents/makalah_fgd.rtf.
J, Gireesh Kumar, and Arjun Philip George. “Constitutional Morality and Its Oracle.” PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt / Egyptology 18, no. 08 (2021): 4309–19.
Khurshid, Salman. Judicial Review: Process, Powers, and Problems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.
Kumar, Ajay. “Two Different but Same Perspectives on Constitutional Morality.” ILI Law Review Winter 2022: 258–75.
Lailam, Tanto. “Membangun Constitutional Morality Hakim Konstitusi di Indonesia [Building Constitutional Morality of Constitutional Judges in Indonesia].” Jurnal Penelitian Hukum De Jure 20, no. 4 (2020): 511–29.
Levitsky, Steven, and Daniel Ziblatt. How Democracies Die. New York: Viking, 2018.
Magnis-Suseno, Franz. “Marchiavelli: Guru Benar Atau Guru Konyol [Machiavelli: A True Teacher or a Foolish Teacher?]?” In Jika Rakyat Berkuasa Upaya Membangun Masyarakat Madani Dalam Kultur Feodal [If the People Hold Power: Efforts to Build a Civil Society within a Feudal Culture], edited by Tim MUALA. Bandung: Pustaka Hidayah, 1999.
Mahkamah Konstitusi RI. Naskah Komprehensif Perubahan UUD NRI Tahun 1945, Buku VI, Kekuasaan Kehakiman [Comprehensive Text of the Amendments to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, Book VI, Judicial Power]. Jakarta: Mahkamah Konstitusi RI, 2010.
Marzuki, M. Laica. “Konstitusi Dan Konstitusionalisme [Constitution and Constitutionalism].” Jurnal Konstitusi 7, no. 4 (2016): 001–008. https://doi.org/10.31078/jk741.
Marzuki, Peter Mahmud. Penelitian Hukum [Legal Research]. Jakarta: Prenada Media, 2005.
Melero, Mariano C. “Weak Constitutionalism and the Legal Dimension of the Constitution.” Global Constitutionalism 11, no. 3 (November 2022): 494–517. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045381722000077.
Mochtar, Zainal Arifin. Kekuasaan Kehakiman Mahkamah Konstitusi Diskursus Judicial Activism Vs Judicial Restraint [Judicial Power of the Constitutional Court: A Discourse on Judicial Activism vs. Judicial Restraint]. Jakarta: PT Rajagrafindo, 2021.
MPR RI. “Konvensi Gagasan Dan Kesepahaman Tentang Pentingnya Keberadaan Mahkamah Etik [Conventions, Ideas, and Consensus on the Importance of the Existence of an Ethics Court].” Jakarta: MPR RI, August 2020.
Muchsin. Kekuasaan Kehakiman Yang Merdeka Dan Kebijakan Asasi [An Independent Judicial Power and Fundamental Policies]. Jakarta: STIH IBLAM, 2004.
Noviantika, Tria. Gagasan Peradilan Etik: Penataan Kelembagaan Penegakan Kode Etik Penyelenggara Negara [The Idea of an Ethics Court: Institutional Arrangement for the Enforcement of the Code of Ethics for State Organizers]. Master’s thesis, Magister Ilmu Hukum, Universitas Gadjah Mada, 2024.
Pralampita, Linda Ayu. “Kedudukan Amicus Curiae Dalam Sistem Peradilan Di Indonesia [The Position of Amicus Curiae in the Judicial System in Indonesia].” Jurnal Lex Renaissance 5, no. 3 (2020): 558–72.
Ramadan, Wahyu Aji, Irma Aulia Nusantara, and Tanti Mitasari. “Reformulasi Pengawasan Mahkamah Konstitusi Demi Meningkatkan Efektivitas Penegakan Kode Etik Hakim Konstitusi [Refomulating the Oversight of the Constitutional Court to Enhance the Effectiveness of Enforcing the Code of Ethics for Constitutional Judges].” Jurnal Studia Legalia: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum 3, no. 2 (2022): 21–43.
Rumadan, Ismail, Pri Pambudi Teguh, Zainal Arifin Hoesein, and Arifudin. “Budget Independence of The Supreme Court In The Implementation Of The Functions Of Judicial Power [Independence of the Budget of the Supreme Court in the Implementation of Judicial Power Functions].” Jurnal Hukum Dan Peradilan 10, no. 3 (2021): 421–29.
Scheppele, Kim Lane. “Autocratic Legalism.” The University of Chicago Law Review 85, no. 2 (2018): 545–84.
Strong, C.F. Konstitusi-Konstitusi Politik Modern-Terjemahan [Modern Political Constitutions - Translation]. Bandung: Nusa Media, 2015.
Sumardjono, Maria SW. Bahan Kuliah Metodologi Penelitian Ilmu Hukum [Lecture Materials on the Methodology of Legal Research]. Edisi Revisi. Yogyakarta: Universitas Gadjah Mada, 2019.
Triwulan, Titik. “Pengawasan Hakim Konstitusi Dalam Sistem Pengawasan Hakim Menurut Undang-Undang Dasar Negara RI 1945 [Supervision of Constitutional Judges within the Judicial Oversight System According to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia].” Jurnal Dinamika Hukum 12, no. 2.
Wheare, K.C. Konstitusi-Konstitusi Modern-Terjemahan [Modern Constitutions - Translation]. Bandung: Nusa Media, 2018.
Wiryanto. Etik Hakim Konstitusi: Rekonstruksi Dan Evolusi Sistem Pengawasan [Reconstruction and Evolution of the Oversight System]. Depok: Rajawali Pers, 2019.
Wolff, Jonathan. Pengantar Filsafat Politik (Translated) [Introduction to Political Philosophy]. Bandung: CV Nusa Media, 2013.
