CONSTITUTIONALITY REVIEW OF INDONESIAN CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS: HISTORY AND FUTURE

Abstract

This article intends to describe the constitutional basis for the importance of mechanism for reviewing the constitutionality of constitutional amendments in Indonesia. This is based on: first, the existence of provisions both implicitly and explicitly regarding the limitations of constitutional amendments in the Indonesian Constitution, both contained in the Preamble which includes Pancasila as a philoshopie grondslag, the ideals of the state which is also a constitutional imagination, as well as in the body norms of the Indonesian Constitution as contained in Article 37 paragraph (5). Second, the history of amendments to the Indonesian constitution, which has gone through incidents of distorted constitutional amendments which were marked by the dissolution of the Constitutional Assembly as well as transition to the Indonesian Constitution by the President, which is not actually within his authority. The channel for reviewing the constitutionality of amendments to the Indonesian constitution in the future is required by adding this authority to the Constitutional Court, so that the Constitutional Court does not merely serve as a guardian of the constitution an sich, but also becomes a guardian of constitutional identity and the basic structure of the constitution so that it is not not removed and damaged by pragmatic and distorted constitutional amendments.