Constitutional Court Ethics Council Rejects DPR's Request to Halt Adies Kadir Ethics Report
The Chairman of the Constitutional Court Ethics Council (MKMK), I Dewa Gede Palguna, has affirmed that no party may intervene in the council's authority over the handling of an ethics report against Adies Kadir.
Adies Kadir is a Constitutional Court justice nominated by the DPR who was reported to the MKMK just one day after being inaugurated on 5 February 2026. In response to the report, DPR Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, summoned the MKMK to demand an explanation regarding the ethics complaint.
"This is not merely my personal stance, but the position of the entire Constitutional Court Ethics Council — that insofar as our authority is concerned, no institution whatsoever may intervene, including the constitutional court justices who appointed us," Palguna said at the Commission III meeting room in the Nusantara II Building of the DPR complex in Senayan, Jakarta, as quoted from Parliamentary TV.
Several Commission III members pressed the MKMK not to exceed its ethics mandate and not to encroach upon the DPR's authority in appointing Constitutional Court justices.
The Professor of Legal Studies at Udayana University stated that the MKMK respects the DPR's choices in selecting constitutional court justices. "We greatly respect that the authority to nominate Constitutional Court justices rests with three branches of state power, the DPR being one of them, and that is an absolute competence we would never challenge," Palguna said.
Furthermore, Palguna stated that the MKMK cannot disclose the substance of the report or the findings in the Adies Kadir case. Were the council to do so, he said, it would breach its oath and the MKMK's procedural rules.
"Please do not judge us as having already reached a verdict, as this is merely a preliminary examination. A preliminary examination can result in two outcomes — either it proceeds to a full hearing or it is decided immediately," he said.
Palguna explained that the complaint is only now entering the preliminary examination stage concerning the reported justice. "It has only just entered the preliminary examination stage; no examination has yet taken place. It is only tomorrow [Thursday, 19 February 2026] that we will afford the reported justice the right to be heard," he said.
The MKMK also rejected Commission III members' requests to dismiss the report or findings before the preliminary examination could proceed. According to Palguna, doing so would in fact violate the MKMK's procedural rules.
"We also cannot dismiss it from the outset, as some of you have suggested, because the procedural rules stipulate otherwise," Palguna stated firmly.
The DPR nominated Adies Kadir to replace Constitutional Court Justice Arief Hidayat, who completed his term on 3 February 2026. However, the nomination process proved contentious because the DPR abruptly put forward Adies in late January, despite having previously confirmed Inosentius Samsul as its candidate for the Constitutional Court seat from parliament in mid-2025.
Adies Kadir's appointment proceeded smoothly through to his swearing-in before President Prabowo Subianto at an inauguration ceremony at the State Palace in Jakarta on 5 February 2026. The day after his inauguration, 21 legal practitioners and academics belonging to the Constitutional and Administrative Law Society (CALS) filed an ethics complaint against Adies Kadir with the MKMK over alleged ethical violations.
Adies Kadir is a Constitutional Court justice nominated by the DPR who was reported to the MKMK just one day after being inaugurated on 5 February 2026. In response to the report, DPR Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, summoned the MKMK to demand an explanation regarding the ethics complaint.
"This is not merely my personal stance, but the position of the entire Constitutional Court Ethics Council — that insofar as our authority is concerned, no institution whatsoever may intervene, including the constitutional court justices who appointed us," Palguna said at the Commission III meeting room in the Nusantara II Building of the DPR complex in Senayan, Jakarta, as quoted from Parliamentary TV.
Several Commission III members pressed the MKMK not to exceed its ethics mandate and not to encroach upon the DPR's authority in appointing Constitutional Court justices.
The Professor of Legal Studies at Udayana University stated that the MKMK respects the DPR's choices in selecting constitutional court justices. "We greatly respect that the authority to nominate Constitutional Court justices rests with three branches of state power, the DPR being one of them, and that is an absolute competence we would never challenge," Palguna said.
Furthermore, Palguna stated that the MKMK cannot disclose the substance of the report or the findings in the Adies Kadir case. Were the council to do so, he said, it would breach its oath and the MKMK's procedural rules.
"Please do not judge us as having already reached a verdict, as this is merely a preliminary examination. A preliminary examination can result in two outcomes — either it proceeds to a full hearing or it is decided immediately," he said.
Palguna explained that the complaint is only now entering the preliminary examination stage concerning the reported justice. "It has only just entered the preliminary examination stage; no examination has yet taken place. It is only tomorrow [Thursday, 19 February 2026] that we will afford the reported justice the right to be heard," he said.
The MKMK also rejected Commission III members' requests to dismiss the report or findings before the preliminary examination could proceed. According to Palguna, doing so would in fact violate the MKMK's procedural rules.
"We also cannot dismiss it from the outset, as some of you have suggested, because the procedural rules stipulate otherwise," Palguna stated firmly.
The DPR nominated Adies Kadir to replace Constitutional Court Justice Arief Hidayat, who completed his term on 3 February 2026. However, the nomination process proved contentious because the DPR abruptly put forward Adies in late January, despite having previously confirmed Inosentius Samsul as its candidate for the Constitutional Court seat from parliament in mid-2025.
Adies Kadir's appointment proceeded smoothly through to his swearing-in before President Prabowo Subianto at an inauguration ceremony at the State Palace in Jakarta on 5 February 2026. The day after his inauguration, 21 legal practitioners and academics belonging to the Constitutional and Administrative Law Society (CALS) filed an ethics complaint against Adies Kadir with the MKMK over alleged ethical violations.