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Activists warn that public faith in Constitutional Court at risk
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Anwar Usman (left) and Saldi Isra congratulate each other after they were elected as Constitutional Court chief justice and deputy chief, respectively, in Jakarta on March 15, 2023, for the 2023-2028 period. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
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ctivists have warned that public faith in the Constitutional Court’s integrity is at risk after its ethics council found that a new justice was guilty of breaching the code of ethics, leading to questions as to whether the top court can carry out its role as guardian of the Constitution.
The ethics council decided on March 20 only to issue a written warning to new justice Guntur Hamzah for his unethical conduct in altering a court ruling challenging the dismissal of his predecessor without the knowledge of the other justices.
The Indonesia Center for Law and Policy Studies (PSHK) has said that Guntur's move not only undermines public trust in the Constitutional Court but also compromises the transparency and legitimacy of the rule of law.
"Having a Constitutional Court justice with a record of ethical violations or potential conflicts of interest will raise doubts as to whether the court can carry out its role properly," Fajri Nursyamsi of the PSHK said on Tuesday.
The group said that Guntur should have been dismissed for his unethical conduct on his first day in office, and called on him to resign from his position.
Guntur was appointed by the House of Representatives in November to replace Aswanto, a notable justice who invalidated the government’s flagship 2020 Job Creation Law, which angered the pro-government majority in the legislature.
The ethics council was formed on Jan. 30, led by former justice I Dewa Gede Palguna and accompanied by Constitutional Court Justice Enny Nurbaningsih and Sudjito, a law professor from Yogyakarta’s Gadjah Mada University, who was a member of a previous court ethics council.
