Treaties as a Source of National Law in The Perspective of Constitutional Law

Abstract

The 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia does not regulate the relations and interactions between treaties and national law. The absence of constitutional norms regarding this matter raises the question of how treaties become a source of national law. This study puts forward the perspective of constitutional law to answer how national law perceives treaties in the dimensions of national law. It argues that the constitutional law paradigm views treaties as a product of the legislative and executive interaction within the framework of the theory of separation of powers. Based on this view, the formation of law is the original power of the legislature, which impacts the obligation to provide legislative consent before treaties can be applied to domestic jurisdictions, as well as placing treaties under the 1945 Constitution. Thus, Indonesia can remain selective in enforcing treaties at the domestic level. The 1945 Constitution paradigm indeed influenced Indonesia's closeness to the teachings of dualism. However, this paper also describes that in using treaties, the Constitutional Court often uses treaties that have yet to be ratified as a basis for strengthening arguments in decisions. This practice shows a shift in the paradigm of dualism to a pragmatic monism paradigm.