Mahfud MD: If The Constitutional Court Decides On The Wrong Job Creation Law, Later There Will Be A Legislative Review

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD (DOK. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD spoke up about an error in the manuscript of the Job Creation Law which became a polemic in the community.

Mahfud said the government would talk with the DPR to ask about any typos in Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation and this misprinting could still be corrected.

"We will talk with the DPR RI why it was sent like that. Which document is correct and then the Constitutional Court can finalize it if it is the clerical one," Mahfud said in his video statement, Thursday, November 5.

As for substance errors, the government submitted them to the Constitutional Court (MK). If in the Constitutional Court decision, it is stated that there is an article that is considered wrong, it will be followed by a legislative review.

"If the Constitutional Court decides that something (the Job Creation Law, red) is wrong, we will later have a legislative review. It does not rule out the possibility for a legislative review," he said.

Meanwhile, for the amendment of certain articles, later on, the government will first wait for the outcome of the Constitutional Court decision to find out which parts of the law should be changed.

Mahfud said that currently the government is forming a working team. However, this work team is certainly neutral because it does not come from the government but from academics and community leaders.

This team, continued the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, will work to process and accommodate problems related to the Job Creation Law. So, in the repair process, everything can be accommodated properly. "Both the derivative regulations can all be accommodated," he said.

"What is clear is that the Job Creation Law has a good purpose, well, a good goal certainly does not rule out the possibility of improvement," he added.

Previously, the Chairman of the Legislation Body (Baleg) of the DPR Supratman Andi Agtas mentioned editorial errors or typos in Law Number 12 of 2020 concerning Job Creation after being signed by President Joko Widodo for the first time this had occurred.

Supratman said that so far there has never been a law that still has editorial errors after being signed by the president. The Job Creation Law is the first. "Indeed, if the law has been signed after the president has signed it, this (editorial error) is the first time it has been carried out. But, before the president signs it, almost all of the laws have typos like that," Supratman told reporters, Wednesday, November 4.

According to Supratman, if there are still typographical errors in the draft law in the DPR, this often happens. When the draft is submitted to the government, the Minister of State Secretary is in charge of correcting it before it is signed by the President.

He admitted that he would invite the government to improve the typo in the Job Creation Law. He also ensured that both the DPR and the government were responsible that the improvements were only administrative and did not change any substance.

"Together (the DPR and the government). And the DPR is ready to do that and is ready to be accountable that this does not change the substance of the Job Creation Law at all. Because it is purely an administrative error," said Supratman.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of State Secretariat (Kemensetneg) stated that the technical error in the text of Law Number 11 of 2011 concerning Job Creation was purely due to human negligence, aka human error.

This was followed by a number of errors in the 1,187-page thick law which was only passed on November 2, 2020.

"Kemensetneg has conducted a series of internal examinations and there are no intentional elements. The mistake is purely a 'human error'," said Assistant Deputy of Public Relations at the Ministry of State Secretariat Eddy Cahyono Sugiarto.