Constitutional Court's Honour Council Ensures Palguna Will Not Oversee Report from Student Forum
The Constitutional Court’s Honour Council (MKMK) has ensured that Chief Justice Dewa Gede Palguna, who is the subject of complaints, will not be involved in handling the allegation of ethical violation and judicial conduct that has ensnared him. This report was submitted by the Indonesian Student Forum (Formasi).
Fajar Laksono, Head of the Legal and Administration Bureau of the Constitutional Court Secretariat, stated that on Wednesday, 25 February 2026, the MKMK held a meeting to discuss the report. This meeting will determine whether the report from Formasi meets the requirements for further action.
During this meeting, Fajar explained that as Chief Justice, Palguna would attend. However, he would not be asked for his opinion. “Because the report concerns Mr Palguna, in the MKMK meeting, Mr Palguna will be present but will not express an opinion regarding the report in question,” he told Tempo on Wednesday, 25 February 2026.
Fajar stated that the report against Palguna would be treated like any other ethics report to the MKMK. The handling of the ethics allegation is regulated by Article 26 paragraph (1) of Constitutional Court Regulation 11/2024. According to procedural law in this regulation, Fajar explained, every report to the MKMK must first be discussed in an honour council meeting. “If it meets the requirements, the report will be registered and subsequently adjudicated,” he said. “If it does not meet the requirements, the MKMK Secretariat will notify the complainant.”
When asked about the outcome of the honour council meeting on the Formasi report held today, Fajar stated that he could not yet announce the result because the meeting was still ongoing. “Because the honour council meeting has not finished, regarding the Formasi report it cannot yet be disclosed,” he said.
The Indonesian Student Forum reported Palguna to the MKMK on an allegation of breach of judicial code of ethics and conduct on 18 February 2026. This report was filed amid the momentum of the MKMK handling proceedings from a complaint against Constitutional Court Judge Adies Kadir.
There are four points that form the substance of the report. For instance, when Palguna served as a speaker in an online discussion in May 2024 where he stated that the revision of the Constitutional Court Law was the greatest disruption in history. According to Formasi Chair Pian Andreo, Palguna’s action constituted harsh criticism of the DPR’s Legislative Body outside an official forum.
“The Chief Justice has exceeded the bounds of ethical propriety of office and demonstrated a tendency towards personalisation of authority that is inconsistent with the values of judicial independence,” said Pian.
On the same day the report against Palguna was received by the MKMK secretariat, the DPR called the MKMK to Senayan to discuss the report against Adies Kadir. The DPR requested that the MKMK reject the report. However, Chief Justice Palguna emphasised that nothing should intervene in the MKMK’s authority to handle the ethics report against Adies Kadir.
“This is not just my personal stance, but the stance of us, the Honour Council of the Constitutional Court, that as long as it concerns our authority, no single institution, including the constitutional judge who appointed us, should be allowed to intervene,” Palguna said at the DPR Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, on 18 February 2026.