Page 22 - e-KLIPING KETENAGAKERJAAN 6 NOVEMBER 2020
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The first hearing took place on Wednesday, during which the court told petitioners to correct the
              petition after finding their arguments were based more on the 2003 Manpower Law than the
              Constitution.

              The petitioners claimed the disputed provisions violated the Constitution, which guarantees the
              right to work, fair treatment m workplaces and fair compensa-tion for laid-off workers.

              Another petition was regis-tered with the court on Oct. 27 by a group of students from East Java
              called the People's Moveraent on Constitutional Rights (GMPHK), which accused lawmakers of
              revis-ing the legislation multiple times even after it was passed on Oct. 5.

              At least five versions of the draft legislation, each with a dif-ferent number of pages, had made
              the rounds on social media and Online chat groups.

              The third petition was lodged on Oct. 27 by three graduate law students who demanded that
              the court repeal Article 65, which would require educational insti-tutions to have a business
              permit.

              They said it would heavily com-mercialize the education sector, which in turn could hinder un-
              derprivileged people from getting a proper education and violate the right to education.

              The latest petition was filed jointly by the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) and
              the. AU-Indonesia Workers Unions Confederation (KSP-SI AGN) on Tuesday, a day after Jokowi
              signed the law.
              The  petition  demands  the  court  to  repeal  provisions  regulating  how  minimum  wages  and
              severance pays are calculated, as well as articles about contract workers.

              The court, according to Fajar, has yet to schedule tlie first hearing for this fourth petition.

              The court has a maximum of 14 days from the day of registra-tion to hold the first hearing for
              the petition to decide whether or not petitioners have reasonable grounds for a case or whether
              they need to revise the petition.

              Nationwide protests erupted after lawmakers passed the law last month following a swift delib-
              eration process in which both the legislators and the government.gave the public little to no lime
              to scrutinize it.
              Protesters urged Jokowi not to sign the law, which he did regard-less on Monday, almost a month
              after  saying  that  any  disgruntled  group  or  individuals  could  exer-cise  their  rights  at  the
              Constitutional Court instead.

              Only hours after its promulga-tion on late Monday night, some legal experts found substantial
              writing errors that may provide strong grounds for a judicial re-view at the Constitutional Court.

              Some said the error could tech-nically render the document null and void. But the government
              im-medialely brushed it off, saying they were mere technical typos that would not affect the
              imple-mentation of the law.


              Constitutional law expert Vio-lla Reininda urged the public to "closely follow the judicial review
              hearings to ensure the nine-jus-tice bench stays objective" when handling these petitions.

              Expert Feri Amsari, however, was cautioned against bringing the contentious omnibus law to the
              Constitutional  Court  after  its  jus-tices  were  granted  a  longer  judicial  term  without  better
              supervision through a revised Constitutional Court law passed in September. He said this new
              level of power could make justices even more suscepti-ble to political interference. >


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