Arief Hidayat: The Constitutional Court Is Made Up of People Who Can Also Err

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK), Arief Hidayat, said that the nine judges who sit in the body he once led can also make mistakes. Therefore, there are several MK decisions that have sparked pro and contra reactions among the public.

‘The Constitutional Court is made up of people who can also make mistakes. Therefore, we must be fully aware that there are MK decisions that are deemed pro and contra,’ Arief said in a Seminar on Parliamentary Threshold, quoted from YouTube osotvchannel, Wednesday (4/3/2026).

‘Meven though there are only nine people (judges), they can overturn what has been created by hundreds of people. Because what is supreme is not power; what is supreme is the Constitution,’ he said.

Arief himself said that laws are products that are flawed from birth because they are produced by the DPR, which has many interests. He conveyed this by citing statements by Satjipto Rahardjo, a professor at Diponegoro University (Undip).

‘Why are laws flawed from birth? Because the Law is made by the legislative bodies that are the result of conflicts of interest, a mixture of conflicts of interest from various interests that live in the parliament,’ Arief said.

The determination of the parliamentary threshold, Arief said, must consider the principle of proportionality to create a balance that supports political stability in government, party consolidation, and ease of decision-making.

‘The MK emphasises the need for proportionality. The balance between creating governmental stability, the simplification of parties, and making decision-making easier because parliament is simple,’ Arief said.

‘It should not erase many legitimate votes that are discarded for nothing because they do not comply with the principle of popular sovereignty. That is MK Decision No. 116,’ Arief asserted.