The Indonesian Constitution Read with German Eyes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31078/consrev713Keywords:
German Constitution, Human Rights, Indonesian Constitution, Legal System, Unitarian StateAbstract
The Indonesian Constitution offers many interesting insights to a German constitutional scholar. The most striking feature is the balance between the unitarian state and the natural diversity of Indonesia. In Germany, the state architecture reflects regional diversity in its federal framework, whereas Indonesia combines the unitarian state with various decentralising elements. This balance between unitarianism and regional diversity is probably the most conspicuous feature of the Indonesian Constitution and appears to be a suitable compromise between the conflicting aims of stabilising the state and the nation on the one hand and accommodating the geographic, demographic and cultural differences within the country on the other. Another striking feature is the presidential system, which is quite the opposite of the parliamentary system of the German Constitution. Other points that, from the perspective of German constitutional law, invite comparison are the constitutional provisions about the legal system,Indonesia’s constitutional monotheism, which is quite the opposite of the German idea of the state being strictly neutral in religious affairs, and human rights.
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Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz [Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection]. “Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany of 23rd May 1949.” Last amendment by the Act to Amend the Basic Law of 15th November 2019. Accessed 28th January 2021. https://www. gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/.
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Buana, Mirza Satria. “Legal-Political Paradigm of Indonesian Constitutional Court.” Constitutional Review 6, no. 1 (2020).
Bünger, Karl. “Dokumente zur Entstehung der Vereinigten Staaten von Indonesien [Documents on the Creation of the United States of Indonesia].” Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (ZaöRV = Heidelberg Journal of International Law) 13 (1950): 431–473. Accessed August 9, 2020. https://www.zaoerv.de/13_1950_51/13_1950_2_b_431_473.pdf.
Dressel, Björn and Tomoo Inoue. “Megapolitical Cases before the Constitutional Court in Indonesia since 2004.” Constitutional Review 4, no. 2 (2018).
Eddyono, Luthfi Widago. “The Unamendable Articles of the 1945 Constitution.” Constitutional Review 2, no. 2 (2016).
Enders, Christoph. “Social and Economic Rights in the German Basic Law?” Constitutional Review 6, no. 2 (2020).
Eur-Lex. “Regulation (Eu) 2019/788 of The European Parliament and of The Council.” Aaccessed January 28, 2021. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32019R0788&qid=1611135454353.
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Hendrianto, Stefanus. “Constitutionalized but not Constitute: The Case of Right to Social Security in Indonesia.” Constitutional Review 6, no. 2 (2020).
Hesse, Konrad. Der unitarische Bundesstaat [The Unitarian Federal State]. Karlsruhe: C.F. Müller, 1962.
Hesse, Konrad. Grundzüge des Verfassungsrechts der Bundesrepublik Deutschland [Basic Traits of the Constitutional Law of the Federal Republic of Germany]. Munich: C.H. Beck, 1967.
Hoffmann-Riem, Wolfgang. “Praktische Konkordanz im Verfassungsrechtsdenken von Konrad Hesse [Practical Concordance in Konrad Hesse’s Thinking about Constitutional Law].” Archiv des öffentlichen Rechts (AöR) 144, no. 3 (2019).
Iliopoulos-Strangas, Julia. Soziale Grundrechte in den “neuen” Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Union: Zugleich eine Einführung in die mitgliedstaatlichen Allgemeinen Grundrechtslehren [Social Basic Rights in the “New” Member States of the European Union: An Introduction into the General Theory of Basic Rights of the Member States]. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2019.
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Kallwass, Wolfgang and Peter Abels. Privatrecht [Private Law]. 24th ed. Munich: C.H. Beck, 2021.
Karsayuda, Muhammad Rifqinizamy. “The Decentralization of Political Parties through the Institutionalisation of the Local Political Parties.” Constitutional Review 2, no. 1 (2016).
Kischel, Uwe. Rechtsvergleichung [Comparative Law]. Munich: C.H. Beck, 2015.
Klose, Anke. Soziale Grundrechte in den Landesverfassungen [Social Basic Rights
in the Constitutions of the Federal States]. Frankfurt/M.: Peter Lang, 2003.
Küpper, Herbert. Autonomie im Einheitsstaat [Autonomy in a Unitarian State].
Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2002.
Küpper, Herbert. Einführung in die Verfassungssysteme Südosteuropas [Introduction into the Constitutional Systems of South East Europe]. Vienna/ Berlin: Verlag Österreich/Berliner Wissenschaftsverlag, 2018.
Küpper, Herbert and Attila Vincze, eds. Verfassungsgerichte und Obergerichte in Mitteleuropa [Constitutional Courts and Supreme Courts in Central Europe]. Frankfurt/M.: Peter Lang, 2018.
Muttaqien, Zezen Zaenal. “The Strong State and Pancasila: Reflecting Human Rights in the Indonesian Democracy.” Constitutional Review 2, no. 2 (2016): 159–188.
Neumann, Peter. Sachunmittelbare Demokratie [Direct Democracy]. Baden- Baden: Nomos, 2009.
Neumeyer, Hannah. “Unity in Diversity or Diversity in Unity: Indonesia’s Process of Political Decentralisation and Its Effects on Conflicts.” Verfassung und Recht in Übersee (VRÜ = Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America) 39, no. 3 (2006).
Nurjaya, I Nyoman. “Is the Constitutional and Legal Recognition of Traditional Community Laws Within the Multicultural Country of Indonesia a Genuine or Pseudo Recognition?” Constitutional Review 1, no. 2 (2015).
Omara, Andy. “Enforcing Nonjusticiable Rights in Indonesia.” Constitutional Review 6, no. 2 (2020).
Ristawati, Rosa and Radian Salman. “Judicial Independence vis-à-vis Judicial Populism.” Constitutional Review 6, no. 1 (2020).
Rüthers, Bernd. Die heimliche Revolution vom Rechtsstaat zum Richterstaat [The Secret Revolution from the Rule of Law to the Rule of the Judges]. 2nd ed. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016.
Schalper, Diego. Der Schutz der sozialen Grundrechte unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Rechtslage in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und in der Republik Chile [The Protection of the Social Basic Rights with Special Regard to the Legal Situation in the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Chile]. Frankfurt/M.: Peter Lang, 2019.
Schöning, Falk. Föderale Intervention als Instrument zur Bewahrung eines Bundesstaates – Rechtsvergleichende Analyse und völkerrechtliche Legitimation [Federal Intervention as an Instrument to Preserve a Federal State – Comparative Analysis and Legitimacy in International Law]. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2008.
Stern, Klaus. Das Staatsrecht der Bundesrepublik Deutschland [Constitutional Law of the Federal Republic of Germany]. 7 vols., 1st/2nd ed., Munich: C.H. Beck, 1978–2001.
Sudrajat, Tedi. “Harmonization of Regulation Based on Pancasila Values Through the Constitutional Court of Indonesia.” Constitutional Review 4, no. 2 (2018).
The Office of the Registrar and the Secretariat General of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia (ed.). The 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, Law of the Republic of Indonesia concerning the Constitutional Court. Jakarta: The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia, 2015.
Ward, Ken. “Soeharto’s Javanese Pancasila.” In Soeharto’s New Order and its Legacy: Essays in honour of Harold Crouch, edited by E. Aspinall and G. Fealy. Canberra: ANU Press, 2010.
Wieser, Bernd. Vergleichendes Verfassungsrecht [Comparative Constitutional Law] 2nd ed. Vienna: Verlag Österreich, 2020.
Winkler, Heinrich August. Wie wir wurden, was wir sind. Eine kurze Geschichte der Deutschen [How We became What We are. A Short History of the Germans]. Munich: C.H. Beck, 2020.
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Published
2021-05-31
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Küpper, H. (2021). The Indonesian Constitution Read with German Eyes. Constitutional Review, 7(1), 53–91. https://doi.org/10.31078/consrev713
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