Constitution to get local translations

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar

To assist the public in interpreting the amended Constitution, the Constitutional Court has recommended that regional administrations work together with higher learning institutions to translate it into their respective local languages.

The matter was conveyed by Constitutional Court Chief Justice Jimly Asshiddique to reporters after attending the inaugural speech of Constitutional Justice Laica Marzuki, who was appointed as a professor at Hasanuddin University's School of Law, in Makassar on Saturday.

According to Jimly, the constitution has now been translated into Javanese and Balinese, and is still in the process of being translated into Manadonese and Acehnese, as well as Arabic.

Jimly said that in South Sulawesi alone, the provincial administration and four higher learning institutions in collaboration with the Constitutional Court had completed translating the Constitution into four local dialects including Bugis, Makassarese, Tana Toraja and Mandarese.

Jimly acknowledged that the number of articles in the Constitution had increased significantly after amendments had been made to the constitution.

There are now 199 articles compared to the previous 71, of which only 25 are still in their original form.

"After being amended, the size of the Constitution increased almost 300 percent. This is quite troublesome to try and socialize to the public, and it needs to be translated into local dialects so that they better understand it," said Jimly.

On the same occasion, Jimly also indicated that lawmakers should provide wider access to the public to be involved and participate in the law-making process, so as to avoid problems.

He cited as an example Law No. 32/2004 on provincial administration, which had prompted numerous protests and was criticized by sections of the public.

"This shows that people were not involved when the law was being drafted, and later caused problems and protests. So, I remind the legislators to provide opportunities for the public to be involved, before a law is passed, and involve higher learning institutions to make studies," he said.