Conditional Constitutionality, Pragmatism and the Rule of Law
Hukumonline, May, 2008
5 Pages Posted: 7 May 2009
Abstract
Indonesia's Constitutional Court has the power to declare invalid statutes that it deems conflict with Indonesia's Constitution. In several decisions, however, it has declared a statute to be 'conditionally constitutional'. In these cases, the Court has refused to strike down the statute, but has declared that the constitutionality of the statute depends largely on the way the statute is applied or implemented in practice. This article raises concerns about the Court’s use of this concept and suggests that 'conditional constitutionality' might not sit comfortably with the 'rule of law'.
Keywords: Indonesia, law, constitutional law, judicial review, comparative law
JEL Classification: K10, K30
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation