Author(s): Rudy, Utia Meylina, Rifandy Ritonga
The early 1990s, the past two decades have witnessed crucial developments in the constitutional law and the institution in the world, as frequently and generally called a phenomenon of “constitutionalism”, and Indonesia is among such phenomenon. The Indonesian Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi, or MK) has been established since the amendment of the 1945 Constitution in 2001 and practically began its role in 2003. Since then, the Indonesian Constitutional Court has taken an active role while dealing with a total of more than 2000 cases, and passing judgments for more than 1000 cases already. At this moment, 17 years since its establishment, an academic review is highly anticipated particularly in their role of constitutional rights interpretation. Within the context, this paper attempts to analyze the series of judgments involving constitutional rights decided by Constitutional Court of Indonesia since its establishment in 2003. Special emphasis is placed upon the constitutional rights judgments encompassing civil political rights, economic and social rights. This study will attempt at answering this question by integrating the reading of Indonesia Constitutional Court judgments, the institutional framework analysis with sociological approach through Indonesian Constitutional Court judges’ interviews. The study reveals one possible portrayal of how the constitutional court may serve as a bridge for constitutional transition from state sovereignty to people sovereignty in Indonesia.