T

he Constitutional Court on Monday rejected a judicial review filed by a civil society group challenging the authority of regional heads to declare a state of emergency during conflicts in their regions, as stipulated in two articles of Law No. 7/2012 on social conflicts.

'€œThe court categorically rejects the request filed by the plaintiffs,'€ presiding court justice Anwar Usman said while reading the decision at the Constitutional Court in Central Jakarta.

The plaintiffs argued that social conflicts fell under the category of a '€œstate of emergency'€ and that therefore the President was the one who had the authority to declare a state of emergency.

The panel of judges reasoned that threats from social conflicts were usually confined to certain areas and that they posed less of a threat than a condition that warranted the President to declare a state of emergency.

'€œRegional heads know the actual conditions of their regions better than the President,'€ justice Patrialis Akbar said.

With the implementation of decentralization in the country, it was only natural that regional heads had such authority, he added.

The former law minister said that regional heads being able to declare a state of emergency accelerated the resolution of conflicts.

'€œTherefore, the declaration of social conflicts by regional governments is rational and does not contradict the 1945 Constitution,'€ he said.