A Prospect and Challenges for Adopting Constitutional Complaint and Constitutional Question in the Indonesian Constitutional Court

Pan Mohamad Faiz

doi:10.31078/consrev215

A Prospect and Challenges for Adopting Constitutional Complaint and Constitutional Question in the Indonesian Constitutional Court

Pan Mohamad Faiz

Abstract

A jurisdiction of the Indonesian Constitutional Court concerning constitutional adjudication is only limited to review the constitutionality of national law. There is no mechanism for challenging any decision or action made by public authorities that violate fundamental rights enshrined in the Indonesian Constitution. This article argues that constitutional complaint and constitutional question might be adopted as new jurisdictions of the Indonesian Constitutional Court in order to strengthen the protection of fundamental rights of its citizen. It also identifies main problems that will be faced by the Constitutional Court in exercising constitutional complaint and constitutional question. For instance, the Court will be burdened with too many cases as experienced by other countries. A clear mechanism for filtering applications lodged to the Constitutional Court and the time limit for deciding cases are important elements that have to be regulated to overcome the problems. In addition, the institutional structure of the Constitutional Court has to be improved, particularly to support its decision- making process.

Keywords

Constitutional Complaint; Constitutional Court; Constitutional Question; Fundamental Rights; Individual Application

Full Text:

PDF

References

A. Legal documents

Constitution

The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. The Constitution of Austria.

The Constitution of Spain. The Constitution of Ukraine.

The Constitution of the Czech Republic.

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand. The Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Constitution of the Republic of Croatia.

The Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. The Constitution of the Republic of Korea.

The Constitution of the Republic of Poland. The Constitution of the Republic of Turkey. The Constitution of the Russian Federation. The Fundamental Law of Hungary.

Law and Regulation

The Constitutional Court Law of Austria. The Constitutional Court Law of Germany. The Constitutional Court Law of Hungary. The Constitutional Court Law of Spain.

The Constitutional Court Law of Ukraine.

The Constitutional Court Law of the Czech Republic.

The Constitutional Court Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Constitutional Court Law of the Republic of Croatia.

The Constitutional Court Law of the Republic of Korea. The Constitutional Court’s Rules of Procedure of Hungary. The Constitutional Tribunal Law of the Republic of Poland.

The Federal Constitutional Law of the Constitutional Court of Russian Federation.

The Law on the Establishment and Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court of Turkey.

The Regulation of the Constitutional Court of the Republic Indonesia on Guidelines for Litigation in Dispute on Constitutional Authorities between State Institutions.

The Rule of Procedure of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia.

B. Cases

Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia Number 016/ PUU-I/2003.

Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia Number 007/ PUU-IV/2006.

Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia Number 013-022/PUU-IV/2006.

Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia Number 030/ PUU-IV/2006.

Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia Number 1/ SKLN-VI/2008.

Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia Number 001/ PUU-IV/2006.

Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia Number 005/ PUU-IV/2006.

Decision of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia Number 01 PK/ Pilkada/2005.

C. Books and Articles

Arslan, Zühtü. 2015. “Constitutional Complaint as an Instrument for Protecting Basic Rights: The Case of Turkey” in M. Guntur Hamzah et al. (eds), Proceeding of International Symposium on Constitutional Complaint, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia.

Bjelić, Dragana and Mirela Mezak Stastny. 2011. “Constitutional Complaint as an Instrument of Fulfilling the Worker’s Rights in Croatian Legal System”, International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering 5 (5).

Buquicchio, Gianni. 2015. “Constitutional Complaint as an Instrument for Protecting Fundamental Rights of Citizen” in M. Guntur Hamzah et al (eds), Proceeding of International Symposium on Constitutional Complaint, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia.

Comella, Victor Ferreres. 2004. “The Consequences of Centralizing Constitutional Review in a Special Court: Some Thoughts on Judicial Activism”, Texas Law Review 82 (7).

Comella, Victor Ferreres. 2009. “The Spanish Constitutional Court: Time for Reforms” in Andrew Harding and Peter Leyland (eds). Constitutional Courts: A Comparative Study. London: Wildy, Simmonds & Hill.

Dannemann, Gerhard. 1994. “Constitutional Complaints: The European Perspective”, The International and Comparative Law Quarterly 43 (1).

Ekinci, Hüseyin and Musa Sağlam. 2015. Individual Application to the Turkish Constitutional Court. Ankara: The Constitutional Court of Turkey.

Fabbrini, Federico. 2008. “Kelsen in Paris: France’s Constitutional Reform and the Introduction of a Posteriori Constitutional Review of Legislation”, German Law Journal 9 (10).

Faiz, Pan Mohamad. 2016. “Menabur Benih Constitutional Complaint [Sowing the Seeds of Constitutional Complaint]”, https://panmohamadfaiz.com/2006/02/28/constitutional-complaint (accessed on 2 March 2016)

Gamper, Anna and Francesco Palermo. 2009. “The Constitutional Court of Austria: Modern Profiles of an Archetype of Constitutional Review” in Andrew Harding and Peter Leyland (eds). Constitutional Courts: A Comparative Study. London: Wildy, Simmonds & Hill.

Gárdos-Orosz, Fruzsina. 2012. “The Hungarian Constitutional Court in Transition - From Actio Popularis to Constitutional Complaint”, Acta Juridica Hungarica 53 (4).

Garlizky, Lech. 1997. “Constitutional Complaint in Poland”, a paper presented at the Conference of the Constitutional Control Organs of the Countries of New Democracy, the Constitutional Court of Armenia and the European Commission for Democracy through Law of the Council of Europe, Yerevan, 24 October 1997.

Gentili, Gianluca. 2011. “A Comparative Perspective on Direct Access to Constitutional and Supreme Courts in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America: Assessing Advantages for the Italian Constitutional Court”, Penn State International Law Review 29 (4).

Ginsburg, Tom. 2003. Judicial Review in New Democracies: Constitutional Courts in Asian Cases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Harding, Andrew and Peter Leyland. 2009. “The Constitutional Courts of Thailand and Indonesia: Two Case Studies from South East Asia” in Andrew Harding and Peter Leyland (eds). Constitutional Courts: A Comparative Study. London: Wildy, Simmonds & Hill Publishing.

Hunter-Henin, Myriam. 2011. “Constitutional Developments and Human Rights in France: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back”, The International and Comparative Law Quarterly 60 (1).

Karakamisheva, Tanja. 2009. “Constitutional Complaint- Procedural and Legal Instrument for Development of the Constitutional Justice (Case Study – Federal Republic of Germany, Republic of Croatia, Republic of Slovenia and Republic of Macedonia)”, a paper presented at the World Conference on Constitutional Justice, the Constitutional Court of South Africa and the Venice Commission, Cape Town, 24 January 2009.

Kargaudienė, Aušra. 2011. “Individual Constitutional Complaint in Lithuania: Conception and the Legal Issues”, Baltic Journal of Law & Politics 4 (1).

Kommers, Donald P. and Russell A. Miller. 2009. “Da Bundesverfassungsgericht: Procedure, Practice and Policy of the German Federal Constitutional Court” in Andrew Harding and Peter Leyland (eds). Constitutional Courts: A Comparative Study. London: Wildy, Simmonds & Hill.

Palguna, I Dewa Gede. 2010. “Constitutional Question: Latar Belakang dan Praktik di Negara Lain serta Kemungkinan Penerapannya di Indonesia [Constitutional Question: Background and Practice in Other Countries and the Possibility of Its Implementation in Indonesia]”, Jurnal Hukum 17 (1).

Palguna, I Dewa Gede. 2011. Pengaduan Konstitusional (Constitutional Complaint) sebagai Upaya Hukum Perlindungan Hak-Hak Konstitusional Warga Negara: Studi Kewenangan Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Indonesia dengan Rujukan Amerika Serikat, Republik Federal Jerman, dan Korea Selatan sebagai Perbandingan [Constitutional Complaint: Legal Remedy of Protection of Citizen’s Constitutional Rights: A Study on the Indonesia’s Constitutional Court Competence in a Comparative Perspective], Doctoral Thesis, The University of Indonesia.

Palguna, I Dewa Gede. 2015. “Overcoming Constitutional Obstacles in Dealing with Constitutional Complaint Issues: Indonesia’s Experience” in M. Guntur Hamzah et al. (eds), Proceeding of International Symposium on Constitutional Complaint, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia.

Pfersmann, Otto. 2010. “Concrete Review as Indirect Constitutional Complaint in French Constitutional Law: A Comparative Perspective”, European Constitutional Law Review (EuConst) 6 (2).

Royan, Naomita. 2009. “Increasing Press Freedom in Indonesia: the Abolition of the Lese Majeste and ‘Hate-Sowing’ Provisions”, Australian Journal of Asian Law 10 (2).

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine. 2009. “Decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in the Matter of the Constitutional Petition of Sixty People’s Deputies of Ukraine Regarding an Official Interpretation of the Provisions of Article 103.1 of the Constitution of Ukraine in the Context of the Provisions of Its Articles 5 and 156, and the Constitutional Complaint of Citizens Vadym Serhiiovych Halaichuk, Viktoria Valentynivna Podhorna, and Tetiana Volodymyrivna Kysla Regarding an Official Interpretation of the Provisions of Articles 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 of the Constitution of Ukraine (Case of the Exercise of Power by the People)”, Statutes and Decisions 44 (3).

Ülvan, Nazlı Can. 2013. “Constitutional Complaint and Individual Complaint in Turkey”, Ankara Bar Review 6 (2).

Üstün, Burhan. 2014. “Protection of Human Rights by the Turkish Constitutional Court”, a paper presented at the International Conference on the Role of Constitutional Justice in Protecting the Values of the Rule of Law, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova, Chişinău, 8 September 2014.

Victor Ferreres Comella. 2004. “The European Model of Constitutional Review of Legislation: Toward decentralization?”, International Journal of Constitutional Law 2 (3).

Zoelva, Hamdan. 2010. “Pengaduan Konstitusional (Constitutional Complaint) dalam Sistem Peradilan di Indonesia [Constitutional Complaint in Judicial System in Indonesia]” Jurnal Negarawan 6.

D. Websites

Ake-uru, Chalermpon. 2016. “Promotion of Democracy and Constitutional Justice: the Case of Thailand”, http://www.aaccei.org/ccourtDown?bbsSeqn=258&fileSeqn=2 (accessed 28 February 2016).

Hukum Online. 2016. “Eggy Divonis 3 Bulan Penjara [Eggy was sentenced to three months in prison]”, 22 February 2007, http://www.hukumonline.com/berita/baca/hol16258/eggy-divonis-3-bulan-penjara (accessed 15 March 2016).

Hukum Online. 2016. “Eggi Sudjana Ajukan PK Perkara Penghinaan Presiden [Eggi Sudjana filed a reconsideration of case for insulting the insulting the President]”, 2 July 2010, http://www.hukumonline.com/berita/baca/lt4c2d0148deb5e/eggi-sudjana-ajukan-pk-perkara-penghinaan-presiden (accessed 15 March 2016).

The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. 2016. Constitutional Complaint, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/EN/Verfahren/Wichtige-Verfahrensarten/Verfassungsbeschwerde/verfassungsbeschwerde_node.html (accessed 8 March 2016).

The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. 2016. Instructions on Lodging a Constitutional Complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/EN/Homepage/_zielgruppeneinstieg/Merkblatt/Merkblatt_node.html;jsessionid=2C026E2CDFCF7EA417D663C5E084D94C.2_cid361 (accessed 8 March 2016).

The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. 2016. Annual Statistics 2013, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/Statistik/statistics_2013.pdf?blob=publicationFile&v=1 (accessed 10 March 2016).

The Constitutional Court of Indonesia. 2016. Case Recapitulation, www.mahkamahkonstitusi.go.id (accessed 10 March 2016).

The Constitutional Court of Korea. 2016. Caseload Statistics, www.http://english.ccourt.go.kr/cckhome/eng/index.do (accessed 10 March 2016).

The Constitutional Court of Turkey, Individual Application Statistics, http://anayasa.gov.tr/en/inlinepages/IndividualApplication/Statistics.html (accessed 10 March 2016).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31078/consrev215