CALS: No Obstacle for Constitutional Court Ethics Council to Investigate Alleged Ethical Violations

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Constitutional and Administrative Law Society (CALS) has stated that there is no obstacle for the Constitutional Court’s Ethics Council (MKMK) to investigate alleged ethical violations, including those concerning the appointment of constitutional court justices.

The statement was made by CALS representative Yance Arizona when contacted by ANTARA from Jakarta on Wednesday, in response to remarks by House of Representatives Commission III during a hearing with the MKMK discussing a complaint related to Constitutional Court Justice Adies Kadir.

“There is no obstacle for the MKMK to investigate alleged ethical violations that undermine the dignity and honour of the Constitutional Court, including various ethical violations in the process of appointing constitutional court justices,” Yance said.

During the hearing, members of House Commission III essentially questioned the MKMK’s authority to examine the legitimacy of Adies Kadir’s nomination as a constitutional court justice proposed by the House.

Regarding this matter, Yance said, “We believe that what Commission III of the House has done constitutes an attempt at intervention to undermine the MKMK’s independence in handling the complaint against Adies Kadir.”

At the start of the hearing, Commission III Chairman Habiburokhman stated that the process of nominating Adies Kadir as a House-proposed constitutional court justice was not within the MKMK’s purview to examine.

“Based on Article 27A of Law Number 7 of 2020 on the Constitutional Court, the MKMK’s duty is to uphold the code of ethics and code of conduct for constitutional court justices. The process of selecting and nominating Adies Kadir as a candidate for constitutional court justice proposed by the House is certainly not an object of the MKMK’s duties,” he said.

He stated that the House’s authority to select constitutional court justices is not an anomaly but rather an integral part of the principle of checks and balances. This is because the 1945 Constitution stipulates that constitutional court justices are nominated by three branches of power, namely the House of Representatives, the President, and the Supreme Court.

“In the process, the exercise of the House’s constitutional authority in selecting Adies Kadir as a candidate for constitutional court justice proposed by the House was carried out in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations,” he added.

A total of 21 law professors, lecturers, and legal practitioners affiliated with CALS have reported Constitutional Court Justice Adies Kadir to the MKMK.

Adies Kadir was reported because his nomination as a constitutional court justice allegedly violated the code of ethics and code of conduct for Constitutional Court justices as well as prevailing legislation. The complaint was described as an effort to uphold the dignity and honour of the Court.

Following the submission of the complaint at the Constitutional Court building in Jakarta on Friday (6 February), Yance said that his group understood the MKMK had traditionally examined complaints only once a person had already become a Constitutional Court justice.

Nevertheless, in this particular complaint, the complainants have requested the MKMK to expand its jurisdiction to also correct unethical irregularities in the judicial selection process.

“We reported Adies Kadir because his selection not only contravened the law, but we also observed many improper occurrences during the process that constituted violations of several ethical norms,” Yance said.

In its complaint, CALS argued that Adies Kadir’s nomination as a constitutional court justice to replace Arief Hidayat was improper because it was conducted after Commission III had already selected another candidate, namely Inosentius Samsul.

Furthermore, CALS also considered that Adies Kadir, given his background as a politician, posed a significant potential conflict of interest when adjudicating cases, whether in judicial review of legislation or election dispute matters.

CALS has therefore requested through its complaint that the MKMK dismiss Adies Kadir from his position as a constitutional court justice.