Yusril Values Constitutional Court Decision Number 90/2023 Does Not Violate Legal Ethics Norms

Constitutional law expert and former Minister of Law and Human Rights for the period 2001-2004, Yusril Ihza Mahendra. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA Constitutional law expert Yusril Ihza Mahendra spoke up regarding the ethics polemic of the 2024 General Election Organizers (Pemilu).

According to him, there is a fundamental difference between violation of ethical norms and norms regarding behavior or code of conduct. He explained that the ethical norms of the election organizers are under the law such as the Honorary Council of Election Organizers (DKPP) regulations.

"The decision taken by the Honorary Council of the Constitutional Court (MKMK) in the case of Mr. Anwar Usman (Eks Ketua MK) is different from the norms of ethics in theory and the philosophy of law. The regulation (MKMK) is made from the derivative of the law, as is the regulations of the code of ethics of the Constitutional Court judge. Therefore, the derivative of the law, then the position is under the law if viewed from the hierarchy of law," said Yusril.

Yusril said this when delivering the keynote speech in the 2024 Presidential Election Constitutiononality webinar on Thursday, December 28. He said the General Elections Commission (KPU) did not violate the code of ethics because it processed Gibran Rakabuming Raka's candidacy as a vice presidential candidate (cawapres) in the 2024 presidential election.

"We must understand very well (what Anwar Usman violated) is a code of conduct, norms about behavior, not basic norms in the philosophy of law. Decision makers at the ethics board should be aware that what they do is limited to code of conduct, not to ethical norms in legal theory," he said.

Yusril also emphasized that the violation that ensnared Anwar Usman had absolutely no criminal element. Thus, the argument surrounding the Constitutional Court's Decision Number 90 which was upheld by the Constitutional Court's decision 141 is no longer relevant has been refuted by itself.

"If there is an ethical violation in the sense of code of conduct, there is not necessarily a violation of the law. So the case of Mr. Anwar Usman with Mr. Firli (KPK inactive chairman Firli Bahuri) at the KPK is very different. Because in the case of Mr. Anwar there is no legal action whatsoever, the ethics board must work and impose ethical sanctions," said Yusril.

Furthermore, Yusril explained that in the event of the inactive KPK chairman Firli Bahuri's meeting with former Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) at the badminton field in March 2020 was clearly wrong. However, related to the violation of the law, it is not certain because we have to investigate more deeply what happened in the meeting.

"Once again, do not consider the violations decided by the Constitutional Court against Mr. Anwar Usman as a violation of fundamental ethics in legal philosophy, but in the context of code of conduct in carrying out certain positions in one organization. And in terms of law, it is clear that the Constitutional Court's decision is final and binding, so it will not be canceled due to ethical violations," he said.

Previously, Yusril clarified the legal debate circulating in the community about ethical norms that were higher than legal norms. Yusri also briefly expressed the view of Islamic law which said that if the norm of ethics was contrary to legal norms, then legal norms could be ruled out.

The narrative is now circulating and is considered to corner Gibran in the 2024 presidential election contestation. In his narrative, Gibran is considered to have benefited from the Constitutional Court's Decision Number 90/PUU-XXI/2023 concerning Additional Provisions for Acting Experiences of Election Election Election Election Election Election Elections in the Minimum Age Decision Requirements for Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates, which in the process of determining the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman was declared to have violated the code of ethics.