Constitutional Court Orders Chronic Diseases to be Classified as Disabilities Following Medical Assessment
The Constitutional Court (MK) has granted a petition to test Law Number 8 of 2016 concerning Persons with Disabilities and declared that chronic diseases can be classified as disabilities through assessment by medical professionals.
“We grant the petitioners’ request in part,” stated Constitutional Court Chief Justice Suhartoyo announcing Decision Number 130/PUU-XXIII/2025 in the MK’s Plenary Hearing Room in Jakarta on Monday, 2 March 2026.
In its legal reasoning, the MK emphasised that recognition of chronic diseases as physical disabilities that are not always visibly apparent is important in ensuring the effectiveness of legal protection for the fulfilment of rights for persons with disabilities.
Without such recognition, according to the MK, individuals who genuinely experience functional limitations in their bodies but do not display visible physical signs risk losing access to various forms of legal support and public policy measures.
Accordingly, the MK determined that the law must ensure protection for persons with disabilities is provided not only to those with easily recognisable health conditions visually, but also to those whose impacts are hidden yet equally impede the ability to carry out social, educational and work activities.
“With recognition of chronic diseases as physical disabilities that are not always apparent, this becomes an important element in ensuring that legal protection for persons with disabilities is not merely symbolic but can be genuinely experienced in daily life,” said Constitutional Judge Enny Nurbaningsih.
In this petition, student Raissa Fatikha and lecturer Deanda Dewindaru challenged the Explanation to Article 4 paragraph (1) of the Persons with Disabilities Law. They sought to have chronic diseases categorised as disabilities.
Raissa herself is a person with chronic disease diagnosed with chronic nerve pain disease (thoracic outlet syndrome) since 2015, whilst Deanda was diagnosed with autoimmune disease in 2022.
Regarding this matter, the MK stated that various long-term chronic diseases, particularly those related to immune system disorders and chronic inflammation, ultimately affect an individual’s ability to carry out daily activities.
Based on this understanding, recognition of the functional impact of chronic diseases is not intended to automatically change medical categories into legal categories, but rather to ensure that a person does not lose access to legal protection merely because their disease is not always visually apparent.