The Indonesian Constitutional Court Decisions as a Social Engineer in Improving People’s Welfare

Posted on by
1

INDONESIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DECISIONS AS A SOCIAL ENGINEER IN IMPROVING PEOPLE’S WELFARE

(Paper published in Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations (ICRI, 2018), pages 165-170)

Abstract

One of the national goals of the establishment of the Indonesian state is to improve the people’s welfare. To support this achievement, the law comes to bring its functions as a social engineer. It means the law plays a role in influencing the occurrence of a social change in a planned manner to achieve prosperity. The Constitutional Court decision is one of the sources of law that is expected to improve people’s welfare. This article aims to analyze the Constitutional Court decisions that have significant implications for maintaining and improving the people’s welfare in Indonesia. The methodology used in this research is a normative juridical with library research and case study approaches on decisions declared by the Constitutional Court in the last five years (2013-2018). This study found that there are socioeconomic rights of citizens that have been protected and restored by the Constitutional Court. These erga omnes decisions indirectly contributed to the improvement of the people’s welfare, in particular regarding the rights of a pension fund, a minimum wage and severance pay. This article concludes that an effort to maintain and improve the people’s welfare in Indonesia can also be enforced effectively through a social engineering based on the Constitutional Court decisions.

Keywords: Constitutional Court, People’s Welfare, Social Engineering, Socio-Economic RIghts

* Read more or download the paper here.

Elections in Time of Pandemic

Posted on by
1

ELECTIONS IN TIME OF PANDEMIC

By Lydnsey Martin and Pan Mohamad Faiz

(This article was published in The Jakarta Post on September 10, 2020, page 6)

Later this year, both Indonesia and the United States will hold elections. In the US, voters will go to the polls on Nov. 3 to elect the president, 35 senators, all 435 members of the House of Representatives, as well as state and local government officials. On Dec. 9, around 106 million Indonesians across the country’s 270 regions will vote in regional elections.

However, with more than 170,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia and more than 4.5 million confirmed cases in the US, the pandemic has led to concerns about the health and safety of the electorate and poll organizers.

One of the primary concerns that leaders in the US and Indonesia must address is the risk of low voter turnout due to fears over COVID-19. For many voters, going to a crowded polling station to cast a ballot may pose too great a risk of exposure, thus they may choose to forfeit their right to vote and stay home.

Continue reading →

Penguatan Kelembagaan: Refleksi 17 Tahun Mahkamah Konstitusi

Posted on by
1

PENGUATAN KELEMBAGAAN: Refleksi 17 Tahun Mahkamah Konstitusi

(Tulisan diterbitkan dalam Kolom “Ruang Konstitusi” di MAJALAH KONSTITUSI No. 162, Agustus 2020, hlm. 94-95 – Download)

Pada 13 Agustus 2020, Mahkamah Konstitusi (MK) genap memasuki usia 17 tahun. Sejak masa pembentukannya, MK mengalami dinamika yang panjang dan berliku. Perjalanannya bagaikan roller coaster yang tak jarang membuat para penumpang dan orang-orang yang melihatnya menjadi histeria. Ada kalanya MK disanjung tinggi bak seorang pahlawan konstitusi. Malangnya, MK juga pernah terpuruk hingga ke titik nadir. Akibatnya, kepercayaan publik terhadap MK bergerak fluktuatif.

Akan tetapi, kedewasaan ini tentunya memerlukan kematangan dalam berpikir dan bertindak. Kebebasan yang dimilikinya juga harus dibarengi dengan rasa tanggung jawab. Lebih penting lagi, ia tak boleh menunda untuk setidaknya menyusun rencana dan jalan hidupnya ke depan, baik untuk jangka pendek maupun jangka panjang.

Dari perspektif psikologis manusia, usia 17 tahun umumnya menjadi batasan bagi seseorang untuk dianggap telah dewasa. Secara hukum, ia menjadi subjek yang memperoleh kepercayaan dan kebebasan untuk melakukan tindakan hukum. Misalnya, memiliki hak pilih dalam pemilu atau memperoleh SIM untuk mengemudi.

Continue reading →

Quo Vadis 10 Tahun Asosiasi Mahkamah Konstitusi se-Asia

Posted on by
1

QUO VADIS 10 TAHUN ASOSIASI MAHKAMAH KONSTITUSI se-ASIA

(Tulisan diterbitkan dalam Kolom “Ruang Konstitusi” di MAJALAH KONSTITUSI No. 161, Juli 2020, hlm. 68-69 – Download)

“I blinked my eyes and in an instant, decades had passed”, ujar John Mark Green dalam kumpulan puisinya berjudul Taste the Wild Wonder. Penggalan puisi tersebut mengingatkan penulis pada perjalanan Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACC) atau Asosiasi Mahkamah Konstitusi dan Institusi Sejenisnya se-Asia. Tanpa terasa, Asosiasi ini telah memasuki usia satu dekade sejak pendiriannya.

Meskipun kesepakatan untuk mendirikan AACC antara beberapa peradilan konstitusi terjadi di Mongolia pada September 2005, namun embrio awal pendirian tersebut sebenarnya berasal dari 1st Conference of Asian Constitutional Court Judges yang digelar di Jakarta pada September 2003. Saat itu, para Hakim Konstitusi se-Asia berkumpul untuk pertama kalinya guna mendiskusikan tema “Present Status and Future Development of Constitutional Jurisdiction in Asia”.

Setelah melalui serangkaian Preparatory Committee Meetings selama empat tahun berturut-turut (2008-2010), AACC akhirnya terbentuk secara resmi berdasarkan the Jakarta Declaration pada 12 Juli 2010. Deklarasi ini membawa arti penting bagi Indonesia sebagai tuan rumah pembentukan AACC.

Continue reading →