Constitutional court needs higher authority, expert says

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Noted political scientist Miriam Budiardjo insisted on Monday that the constitutional court, the establishment of which is being prepared, should be given authority to impeach the president for wrongdoings.

Speaking at a discussion on a bill on the constitutional court, Miriam said the court's decision should be final and binding.

"What would happen if the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) rejected the ruling of the constitutional court? The court's decision should be final and ought to be executed," Miriam said.

Responding to public demand for an institution that has the authority to carry out judicial reviews, the MPR ad hoc committee (PAH I) on constitutional amendment agreed last year to amend the Constitution to make way for the establishment of a constitutional court.

The court's main task will be to give an opinion regarding a motion from the House of Representatives (DPR) to impeach a president.

However, the amended Constitution rules that a legal opinion from the constitutional court will be subject to approval from the MPR.

In addition to giving an opinion on the impeachment of a president, the court will also have the power to do judicial reviews, to settle election disputes and to solve conflicts between state institutions.

The authority of the constitutional court was one of a number of things criticized by Miriam during the discussion.

Miriam from the University of Indonesia was astonished to learn that the impeachment process, which is of high political significance, will be under the authority of the constitutional court.

"In other countries, the main task of the constitutional court is judicial reviews," Miriam said.

In Indonesia, judicial reviews were nonexistent until the Assembly amended the Constitution last year. The existing Supreme Court could only review regulations below the law.

In a related development, a researcher at the House, Riris Khatarina, expressed fear that any overriding authority given to the constitutional court would turn the institution into a superbody.

"Possibly, the new institution will be more powerful than the Assembly," Riris said.

Fellow researcher Ronny Bako, another speaker at the discussion, emphasized that the constitutional court along with the Supreme Court would be part of the country's judicial system.

"There must be a clear-cut difference between the constitutional court and the Supreme Court to avoid confusion," Ronny said.

The bill on the constitutional court is one of 77 bills scheduled for deliberation at the House this year.