Civil Servants Act on Contract Workers Challenged at Constitutional Court, Petitioners Question Uncertain Employment Status
The Civil Servants Act (UU ASN) related to Government Employees with Work Agreements (PPPK) has been challenged at the Constitutional Court (MK) for allegedly causing uncertainty in employment status and discrimination compared to civil servants (PNS).
This judicial review petition, case Number 84/PUU-XXIV/2026, was filed by the Forum for Archipelagic Intellectual Aspirations (FAIN), represented by Yumnawati and Supriaman, along with a PPPK lecturer, Rizalul Akram.
The petitioners’ legal counsel, Abdul Basit, stated that additional individual petitioners have been added to the application.
“There is an addition (of petitioners) individually, Your Honours,” Abdul Basit said during the petition amendment hearing at the MK on Wednesday (1/4).
The challenged provisions are in Law Number 20 of 2023 on ASN, specifically Article 34 paragraphs (1) and (2), and Article 52 paragraph (3) letter c.
The petitioners question the phrase “prioritised” in Article 34 paragraph (1), which states that ASN positions are more prioritised for PNS. Additionally, the phrases “may” and “specific” in Article 34 paragraph (2) are seen as opening opportunities for restrictions on PPPK filling certain positions.
Furthermore, the phrase “end of the work agreement period” in Article 52 paragraph (3) letter c is challenged because it is considered to allow automatic termination of PPPK employment without performance evaluation.
Another legal counsel, Muhamad Arfan, assessed that these provisions potentially violate the principles of legal certainty and equality.
“The phrase ‘end of the work agreement period’ could be interpreted as automatic termination of employment without an objective and transparent performance evaluation mechanism,” he said.
According to the petitioners, these provisions make the future of PPPK uncertain because employment continuity fully depends on contract extensions that are not guaranteed.
As a result, PPPK lack certainty in career planning and professional life as state apparatus.
“The continuity of PPPK employment fully depends on contract extensions that are not normatively guaranteed, so the career future of PPPK cannot be predicted,” Arfan stated.
The petitioners also consider these provisions contrary to the merit system principle in the UU ASN, which should place qualifications, competence, and performance as the main basis in managing state apparatus.
In their petition, the petitioners request the MK to provide a constitutional interpretation of these articles, including ensuring that ASN position filling is not discriminatory towards PPPK and that PPPK dismissal must be based on objective performance evaluation.
Additionally, the petitioners claim to suffer constitutional harm in the form of no guarantee of employment continuity, career uncertainty, and unequal treatment compared to PNS.
“Such harm includes the absence of employment continuity guarantee as well as the loss of certainty in career planning and decent livelihood,” he said.
Through this petition, the petitioners hope the Constitutional Court can provide legal certainty and justice for PPPK in the national civil service system.