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Visit of German Constitutional Judge Prof. Bross to Indonesia. Prof. Bross, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Federal Republic of Germany, visited Indonesia between 15 and 20 November 2009 in the scope of an invitation of HSF Jakarta.
His series of lectures is part of a long-lasting cooperation tradition between the Indonesian Constitutional Court and Hanns-Seidel Foundation Jakarta. Since the establishment of the Court in 2004, activities have been carried out on a regular basis, which aim at the improvement of its expertise and public standing. Therefore, roundtable discussions on selected topics of the Indonesian Constitutional Court and the fourth lecture series of Prof. Bross in Indonesia serve as good-practice examples.
In total Prof. Bross delivered five lectures during his journey, which led to intensive discussions among participants. The presented topics covered predominantly the role of the Constitutional Court during the Procedure of Election Monitoring, Party Funding, State Law and Democracy as well as Political Parties Permit. This range of topics was picked out by representatives of the Indonesian Constitutional Court in advance in order to guarantee the most effective outcome for the Indonesian partners. Following issues were discussed during the visit:
• At the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII) in Yogyakarta: “Procedure of Election Monitoring in Germany, Division of Authority between Constitutional Court and Supreme Court” Among the audience were representatives of the UII staff and approx. 150 students of the Law Faculty.
• At the Habibie Center in Jakarta: “Basics of Constitutional Law of election processes”. A selected audience of experts discussed the new regulation of the actual proportional representation and majority vote system by the German Constitutional Court with a special focus on an improved representation of the electorate interests.
• This topic was also mentioned during a meeting with the former President of the Indonesian Constitutional Court, Prof. Jimly Asshiddiqie, and further representatives of Law and Administration. Currently, there are considerations in Indonesia whether to adapt the German election system according to local circumstances.
• Prof. Bross illustrated a more philosophic topic in his speech at the University of Sriwijaya in Palembang. He paid special attention to the relationship between “State Law and Democracy” and the social responsibility of individuals in a democratic basic order. About 90 students discussed to what extend basic laws, including the social responsibility of citizens, can be safeguarded by the Constitutional Court.
• The second lecture of Prof. Bross in Palembang addressed the “Political Parties Permit and Its Related Problems”, attended by more than 50 Members of the regional parliament of South Sumatra and further regional parliaments. The discussions concentrated mainly on problems of party funding and the question how corruption can be avoided in this sector.
• The meeting with the President of the Indonesian Constitutional Court, Prof. Mahfud, and further Constitutional Judges can be regarded as a knowledge exchange. The upcoming topics included the introduction of the constitutional complaint, evaluation of election procedures as well as the tasks of the German and Indonesian Constitutional Court in comparison.
Especially the meeting with representatives of the Indonesian Constitutional Court revealed the invigorated self-confidence of this court and its increasing position in the public. This position can also be considered not in the least as a success of the support by Hanns-Seidel Foundation. A further collaboration should concentrate more on the training of young staff members of the Constitutional Court and related universities in order to keep on improving the qualification level of the Indonesian Constitutional Court. Therefore, a delegation journey of Prof. Mahfud, President of the Indonesian Constitutional Court, to Germany targets at the knowledge exchange between constitutional judges of both countries and explore possibilities of international training for young Indonesian law experts in Germany.
