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View all search resultsHouse’s rushed pick for top court justice slammed
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Constitutional Court justice-elect Inosentius Samsul (right) greets lawmakers during the House of Representatives plenary meeting at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta on Aug. 21, 2025. (Antara/Asprilla Dwi Adha)
T
he House of Representatives has unanimously appointed senior House staff member Inosentius Samsul as a Constitutional Court justice in a confirmation hearing lasting less than two hours, a swift process critics say underscores the dominance of political interests in judicial appointments.
The decision was taken in a House plenary meeting on Thursday, where Deputy House Speaker Cucun Ahmad Syamsurizal of the National Awakening Party (PKB) led the vote, and all eight political parties represented in the government-controlled legislature agreed to endorse Inosentius.
By law, three of the nine Constitutional Court justices are nominated by the House, another three by the president and the remainder by the Supreme Court, with all requiring presidential approval before taking office.
Inosentius, currently head of the House’s Expertise Board, has spent over three decades in the legislature’s secretariat working on legal research and legislation drafting, among other issues. He oversaw academic studies and legislative drafting for numerous bills, including controversial ones such as the Constitutional Court Law and the Job Creation Law.
He will step in to replace Justice Arief Hidayat, a two-time House appointee who will end his tenure in February next year. The Court confirmed last week that it had notified the House of Arief’s impending retirement, as required by law at least six months before a justice reaches retirement age.
Read also: Political parties divided over court ruling on direct regional elections
Arief, who joined the Court in 2013 and served as chief justice from 2015 to 2018, was known for his bold dissenting opinions in major rulings. He opposed the Court’s 2023 decision that allowed then-president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, to run for vice president despite initially being ineligible due to his young age.
