Experts Pursue Administrative Court Action After Ethics Report on Adies Kadir Stalls at MKMK
Legal experts affiliated with the Constitutional and Administrative Law Society (CALS) will file a claim with the Administrative Court (PTUN) after the report alleging ethical breaches by Constitutional Court Judge Adies Kadir stalled at the Constitutional Court Honour Board (MKMK).
‘Because this is our moral responsibility, we have not stopped here. We are pursuing steps that will eventually lead to a PTUN challenge also against the process of nominating Adies Kadir,’ CALS representative Bivitri Susanti said, speaking at the MK Building in Jakarta on Thursday, 5 March.
Bivitri explained that they had lodged an administrative objection to Presidential Decree No. 9/P of 2026 on the dismissal and appointment of a Constitutional Judge issued by the House of Representatives.
‘This objection is directed at the President, as it concerns a presidential decision. There is also another matter to be pursued separately, a factual objection to the process of nominating Adies Kadir that we submitted to the Speaker of the House,’ she said.
After that, CALS will await responses from the institutions against which objections were filed. The group, comprising professors and academics in constitutional law and administrative law, will then file a suit with the Administrative Court.
‘We only submitted it yesterday. After that, there is a ten-day window for the relevant parties to respond. Whether there is a response or not, we can still proceed to the Administrative Court,’ said Bivitri.
On Thursday, MKMK said it did not have jurisdiction to hear, adjudicate, or determine the CALS report because the merits of the report, namely the nomination of Adies Kadir as a DPR-proposed Constitutional Judge, fell outside the panel’s remit.
MKMK member Ridwan Mansyur explained that the scope of MKMK’s authority concerns conduct or behaviour of sitting Constitutional Court judges and only applies to individuals currently serving as Constitutional Court judges.
The Code of Ethics and Conduct for Constitutional Judges, or Sapta Karsa Hutama, provides the parameter by which MKMK measures alleged breaches of conduct that bind only to Constitutional Court judges.
‘A person who has not yet served as a Constitutional Court judge, or who has completed their term as a Constitutional Court judge, is no longer bound by Sapta Karsa Hutama,’ he read as part of the legal reasoning.
Meanwhile, Bivitri expressed disappointment with the decision. However, she said she was not surprised.
‘Disappointed, of course, because as the complainants we hoped our report would be accepted, but we were not surprised as we understand the challenge of deciding a matter as complex as this,’ she said.
Although the report to the Honour Board failed, CALS emphasised that reporting Adies Kadir constitutes a moral responsibility as an educator and as a student of constitutional and administrative law.
‘Because we know this nomination of Adies Kadir is wrong, we cannot simply air our views on social media; we must also act morally in this way,’ said Bivitri.