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Constitutional Court to mount defense against Anwar’s challenge over demotion
The Constitutional Court is set to send a team of lawyers to present its defense on Wednesday against a challenge by its disgraced former chief justice at an administrative court, although a constitutional law expert says that the administrative judiciary has no authority over the matter.
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Suhartoyo (third right) presides over a hearing at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta after his inauguration on Nov. 13, 2023 as the court’s chief justice. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A)
T
he Constitutional Court is preparing to defend its decision to replace Anwar Usman with Suhartoyo as its chief justice at a hearing set for this Wednesday at the Jakarta State Administrative Court.
Anwar is challenging his removal from the court’s top post after he was found guilty of an ethics violation in his handling last year of a case on the age of candidacy that paved the way for nephew Gibran Rakabuming Raka to vie for the vice presidency in the 2024 general election.
In his petition to the administrative court, Anwar demands the annulment of Suhartoyo’s installment as the Constitutional Court chief justice, the restoration of his own reputation and his reinstallation as chief justice.
The Constitutional Court plans to send lawyers to present its response at the hearing on Feb. 21, after which the response will be published on the court’s website, according to the court’s spokesperson Fajar Laskono.
Constitutional Court Justice Enny Nurbaningsih said sending lawyers on its behalf was the court’s general procedure in any legal proceedings outside its jurisdiction.
“I cannot reveal the details for now,” Enny said on Sunday when asked about what arguments the court planned to use in its defense. “But what is important is that every decision-making process by the Constitutional Court has a legal basis.”
Susi Dwi Harijanti, a professor of constitutional law at Padjadjaran University in Sumedang, West Java, said the Jakarta State Administrative Court should not have accepted Anwar’s petition from the outset.
