Constitutional Complaint in Indonesia Through the Lens of Legal Certainty

Abstract

To date, there is no trial mechanism for Indonesian citizens to claim their rights through the constitutional complaint, even if the Constitutional Court has existed since 2003. In fact, civil rights guaranteed in the 1945 Constitution are often ignored by the government even though these rights are essential in promoting the rule of law. This paper aims to revisit the range of constitutional complaints and further consequences about the legal certainty by taking into account the rationale of civil rights protection following the establishment of the Constitutional Court for adjudicating civil complaints. This study uses juridical research with normative and comparative approaches. In this context, a constitutional complaint is different from the judicial review for which, the actions of government officials are deemed to be detrimental and violate the constitutional rights of citizens. Rather, it is an adjudication for protecting civil rights when it is found the constitutional rights are breached by the government so that each citizen has legal standing before the Constitutional Court. As for the effort to apply legal certainty to constitutional complaints, a legal basis is needed, namely the laws that regulate and their application. By doing so, it can be implemented after amending the 1945 Constitution that outlines the additional power-wielding to the Constitutional Court. KEYWORDS: Constitutional Complaint, Constitutional Court, Indonesian Constitution.