Nurturing Tomorrow’s Jurists: Rethinking the Indonesian Constitutional Court's Clerkship System through a Comparative Lens

Main Article Content

Rafsi Azzam Hibatullah Albar
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8261-5024
Eugenia Felicia Natiur Siregar
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9070-6618
Haekal Al Asyari
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2585-4988

Abstract

This paper dives into the clerkship system at the Indonesian Constitutional Court (MK), an independent judicial organ that holds high importance as the guardian of the constitution. While the court’s nine justices benefit from the existence of a clerk’s office, its work is still very limited to administrative matters. The paper begins by questioning whether the current system is sufficient to assist justices in their work and fulfill the larger aims of judicial clerkship. Its ultimate objective as a follow-up to the question is to identify ways to improve MK’s clerkship system. In order to assess the Indonesian clerkship system, a comparative analysis study of three other countries’ courts that similarly act as guardians of their respective constitutions – namely the Supreme Court of the United States, Constitutional Court of South Africa, and Supreme Court of India – is conducted. It is found firstly that there is indeed a need to change the clerkship system in MK as there are multiple ways in which clerks can help the court and benefit from it. Consequently, the changes that should be made run deep into the very purposes and roles of clerks, the structure of the committee or program, and the expected qualifications and selection process. By drawing inspiration from the three aforementioned courts, a contextualized adoption can be identified by taking into account Indonesia’s own circumstances.

Article Details

How to Cite
Albar, R., Siregar, E., & Al Asyari, H. (2023). Nurturing Tomorrow’s Jurists: Rethinking the Indonesian Constitutional Court’s Clerkship System through a Comparative Lens. Journal of Indonesian Legal Studies, 8(2), 975-1018. https://doi.org/10.15294/jils.v8i2.74043
Section
Research Articles
Author Biographies

Rafsi Azzam Hibatullah Albar, Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada

Rafsi is a student at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada with a broad focus on public interest laws. He has served as a teaching assistant and student researcher at the faculty for subjects such as international, administrative, and constitutional laws. He now assumes the responsibility of an editor at Juris Gentium Law Review, Indonesia’s foremost student-run law review.

Eugenia Felicia Natiur Siregar, Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada

Eugenia is an undergraduate student at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada. She has an ever-developing interest in research in fields such as constitutional and international laws.

Haekal Al Asyari, University of Debrecen, Marton Géza Doctoral School of Legal Studies

Haekal is a lecturer at the Department of International Law, Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada. He is also currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Debrecen (Hungary). His research interests include international law, cyberspace law, and artificial intelligence. He is also active in researches on the topic of air and space law, international humanitarian law, and international arms trade. Haekal is also a columnist for The Jakarta Post and The Conversation Indonesia.

References

Almaura Mutiara Sahara, and Purwono Sungkono Raharjo. “Asas-Asas Hukum Acara Mahkamah Konstitusi.” Souvereignty 1, no. 2 SE-Articles (September 2022): 373–78. https://doi.org/10.13057/souvereignty.v1i2.143.

Argawati, Utami. “Court’s Function as Guardian of Constitution.” The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia, 2022.

Asikin, Zainal. “Menggugat Pendidikan Hukum Di Indonesia.” In Menemukan Kebenaran Hukum Dalam Era Post-Truth, edited by Tristam Pascal Moeliono and Widodo Dwi Putro, 1st ed. Mataram: Sanabil, 2020.

Barroso, Luís Roberto. “Countermajoritarian, Representative, and Enlightened: The Roles of Constitutional Courts in Democracies.” The American Journal of Comparative Law 67, no. 1 (June 2019): 109–43. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcl/avz009.

Basri, and Heni Hendrawati. “Pendidikan Hukum Indonesia Yang Berorientasi Pada Nilai- Nilai Pancasila Dalam Era Revolusi Industri 4.0.” Jurnal PPKn & Hukum 14, no. 1 (2019).

Baum, Lawrence, and Corey Ditslear. “Supreme Court Clerkships and ‘Feeder’ Judges.” The Justice System Journal 31, no. 1 (2010).

Bhaskar, Anurag. “Law Clerks and Access to Judges: A Comparative Reflection on the Recruitment Process of Law Clerks in India.” Comparative Constitutional Law and Administrative Law Journal 6, no. 1 (2021).

Bhattacharya, Chiranjib, Varsha Aithala, Srijoni Sen, Anushka Sachan, and Himanshu Payal. “Illuminating Judicial Productivity in India’s District Courts: An Empirical Analysis.” SSRN, 2023.

Black, Ryan C., and Christina L Boyd. “The Role of Law Clerks in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Agenda-Setting Process.” American Politics Research 40, no. 1 (September 2011): 147–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X11401814.

Bratković, Marko. “In Search of Efficiency: Court Structure and Case Management in Croatia BT - Civil Case Management in the Twenty-First Century: Court Structures Still Matter.” edited by Peter C H Chan and C H van Rhee, 169–91. Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4512-6_12.

Cantatore, Francina, David McQuoid-Mason, Valeska Geldres-Weiss, and Juan Carlos Guajardo-Puga. “A Comparative Study into Legal Education and Graduate Employability Skills in Law Students through pro Bono Law Clinics.” The Law Teacher 55, no. 3 (July 2021): 314–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2020.1818464.

Castillo-Ortiz, Pablo. “The Dilemmas of Constitutional Courts and the Case for a New Design of Kelsenian Institutions.” Law and Philosophy 39, no. 6 (2020): 617–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10982-020-09378-3.

Chandrachud, Abhinav. “From Hyderabad to Harvard: How U.S. Law Schools Make Clerking on India’s Supreme Court Worthwhile.” HLS Program on the Legal Profession Research Paper No. 2014-15, 2014.

Constitutional Court of South Africa. “About Law Clerks,” n.d.

———. “Clerk Initiatives,” n.d.

———. “Clerk Programme for German Trainee Lawyers,” n.d.

———. “Scholarships From The Court,” n.d.

Crichton, Sha-Shana. “Using Law Clerks To Improve Efficiency In Jamaican Courts.” Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law 50, no. 2 (2022).

Epstein, Lee, Jack Knight, and Olga Shvetsova. “The Role of Constitutional Courts in the Establishment and Maintenance of Democratic Systems of Government.” Law & Society Review 35, no. 1 (August 2001): 117–64. https://doi.org/10.2307/3185388.

Gardbaum, Stephen. “What Makes For More or Less Powerful Constitutional Courts?” Duke J. Competition and International Law 29, no. 1 (2018).

Giddings, Jeff, and Jacqueline Weinberg. “Experiential Legal Education: Stepping Back to See the Future.” In Modernizing Legal Education. Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2020.

Gomes, Adalmir Oliveira, Tomas Aquino Guimaraes, and Luiz Akutsu. “Court Caseload Management: The Role of Judges and Administrative Assistants.” Revista de Administração Contemporânea 21, no. 5 (2017).

Haeranah, Haeranah, Achmad Dzulfikar Musakkir, Jims Oktovianus, and Miftah Idris. “Comparison Of The Pretrial System In Indonesia And The US.” International Journal of Education, Vocational and Social Science 2, no. 03 SE-Articles (June 2023): 153–67. https://doi.org/10.99075/ijevss.v2i03.290.

Hanretty, Chris. A Court of Specialists: Judicial Behavior on the UK Supreme Court. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.

Harris, Allison P., and Maya Sen. “Bias and Judging.” Annual Review of Political Science 22, no. 1 (May 2019): 241–59. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051617-090650.

Holvast, Nina. “The Power of the Judicial Assistant/Law Clerk: Looking behind the Scenes at Courts in the United States, England and Wales, and the Netherlands.” International Journal for Court Administration 7, no. 2 (2016).

Holvast, Nina L. “In the Shadow of the Judge: The Involvement of Judicial Assistants in Dutch District Courts.” University of Amsterdam, 2017.

Holvast, Nina, and Peter Mascini. “Is the Judge or the Clerk Making the Decision? Measuring the Influence of Judicial Assistants via an Experimental Survey among Dutch District Court Judges.” International Journal for Court Administration 11, no. 3 (2020).

hukumonline.com. “Panitera Pengadilan, Tak Sekadar Jenjang Karir,” 2010.

Jr., Richard K. Neumann, Ellie Margolis, and Katheryn M. Stanchi. Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing. 9th ed. Aspen Publishing, 2021.

Kepaniteraan Mahkamah Agung. “Tentang Kepaniteraan,” n.d.

Khudoynazarov, Dadakhon A. “Participation of a Judge’s Assistant (Court Secretary) in The Economic Process: National And Foreign Experience.” The American Journal of Interdisciplinary Innovations and Research 4, no. 9 (2022).

Kromphardt, Christopher D.. “US Supreme Court Law Clerks as Information Sources.” Journal of Law and Courts 3, no. 2 (2015): 277–304. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1086/682136.

Kurniawati, Ika, and Lusy Liani. “Kewenangan Mahkamah Konstitusi Sebagai Negative Legislator dalam Pengujian Undang-Undang Terhadap Undang-Undang Dasar 1945.” ADIL: Jurnal Hukum 10, no. 1 (2019): 112–32.

Legislative Department. The Constitution of India (2022).

Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Indonesia. “Struktur Organisasi,” n.d.

———. “Tugas Pokok Dan Fungsi,” n.d.

———. “Uraian Jabatan Panitera,” n.d.

———. “Uraian Jabatan Sekretaris Jenderal,” n.d.

Mascini, Peter, and Nina L. Holvast. “Explaining Judicial Assistants’ Influence on Adjudication with Principal-Agent Theory and Contextual Factors.” International Journal for Court Administration 11, no. 3 (2020).

Mattaliano, Andrea, Sergio Riotta, and Manfredi Bruccoleri. “Organizational Model and Operations Performance: A Longitudinal Study of Italian Judicial Courts.” Institutional Research Archive of the University of Palermo, 2023.

McAlister, Merritt, and Katherine Mims Crocker. “The Clerkship-Academia Continuum Perspectives.” Judicature 105, no. 1 (2021).

Miller, Mark C.. “Law Clerks and Their Influence at the US Supreme Court: Comments on Recent Works by Peppers and Ward.” Law & Social Inquiry 39, no. 3 (September 2014): 741–57. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/lsi.12074.

Moore, Daniel M.. “Tribute to Chief Judge Joseph M. Getty: The Clerkship as a Modern Form of ‘Reading Law.’” Maryland Law Review, 2022.

Morris, Rachel. “A Legacy of Mentorship: A Tribute to the Honorable Judge Joel DeVore.” Oregon Appellate Almanac 19 (2022).

Muñiz-Argüelles, Luis, and Migdalia Fraticelli Torres. “Selection and Training of Judges in Spain, France, West Germany, and England,” January 1985.

Nawas, Abu. “Kedudukan Dan Kewenangan Mahkamah Konstitusi Sebagai Pelaku Kekuasaan Kehakiman.” Iblam Law Review 1, no. 2 (2021): 157–68.

Nelson, William E., Harvey Rishikof, L Scott Messinger, and Michael Jo. “The Liberal Tradition of the Supreme Court Clerkship: Its Rise, Fall, and Reincarnation?” Vanderbilt Law Review 62, no. 6 (2009).

Nemo-Pekelman, Capucine. “Jewish Judicial Patrons and Advocates in the Western Empire (5th Cent.).” In Legal Engegement : The Reception of Roman Law and Tribunals by Jews and Other Inhabitants of the Empire. - ( Collection de l’École Française de Rome ; 579), 2021.

OSCAR. “About OSCAR,” n.d.

Palmer, Jan, and Saul Brenner. “The Law Clerks’ Recommendations and the Conference Vote On-the-Merits on the U.S. Supreme Court.” Justice System Journal 18, no. 2 (September 1995): 185–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/23277556.1995.10871232.

Pemerintah Pusat. Keputusan Presiden (KEPPRES) tentang Sekretariat Jenderal dan Kepaniteraan Mahkamah Konstitusi (2004).

———. Peraturan Presiden (PERPRES) Nomor 65 Tahun 2017 tentang Perubahan Kedua atas Peraturan Presiden Nomor 49 Tahun 2012 tentang Kepaniteraan dan Sekretariat Jenderal Mahkamah Konstitusi (2017).

———. Peraturan Presiden (PERPRES) tentang Kepaniteraan dan Sekretariat Jenderal Mahkamah Konstitusi (2012).

Putri, Meysa Silvia, and Zulfa Harirah MS. “Implementasi Sistem Merit Dalam Manajemen Aparatur Sipil Negara Di Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Indonesia.” Journal of Public Administration and Local Governance 7, no. 1 (2023).

Rautenbach, I. M.. “The Relation Between the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa.” In Universality of the Rule of Law: Slovenian and South African Perspectives. African Sun Media, 2021.

Reayat, Nauman, Anwar Shah, and Syed Arshad. “The Problems of Legal Education in Pakistan: Teaching and Learning, Curriculum, and Assessment Methods.” International Review of Management and Business Research 9 (December 2020): 357–68. https://doi.org/10.30543/9-4(2020)-30.

Republic of Indonesia. Undang-Undang Dasar Negara Republik Indonesia 1945 (1945).

Romadan, Syahrul. “Peran Pendidikan Tinggi Hukum dan Urgensi Mahasiswa dalam Mewujudkan Hukum Yang Berkeadilan.” CREPIDO; Vol 3, No 1 (2021): Jurnal Crepido Juli 2021, 2021. https://doi.org/10.14710/crepido.3.1.33-44.

Samuel, Geoffrey. An Introduction to Comparative Law Theory and Method. Edited by Mark Van Hoecke and François Ost. Oxford and Portland: Hart Publishing, 2014.

Sanders, Anne. “Judicial Assistants in Europe – A Comparative Analysis.” International Journal for Court Administration, 2020. https://doi.org/10.36745/ijca.360.

Santoso, Rudi, and Agus Hermanto. “Analisis Yuridis Politik Hukum Tata Negara (Suatu Kajian Tentang Pancasila Dan Kebhinnekaan Sebagai Kekuatan Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia).” Nizham: Jurnal Studi Keislaman 8 no. 1 (2020). https://doi.org/10.32332/nizham.v8i01.2093.

Satriawan, Iwan, and Tanto Lailam. “Implikasi Mekanisme Seleksi Terhadap Independensi Dan Integritas Hakim Konstitusi Di Indonesia.” Jurnal IUS Kajian Hukum dan Keadilan 9, no. 1SE- (April 2021): 112–38. https://doi.org/10.29303/ius.v9i1.871.

Shatzman, Aliza. “Diverse Judges and Their Diverse Clerks: A Rare Window Into Appellate Law Clerk Hiring.” The Journal of Things We Like (Lots), no. 1 (2023).

Siahaan, Maruarar. Hukum Acara Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Indonesia. 2nd ed. Jakarta: Sinar Grafika, 2011.

Sloan, Karen. “At U.S. Supreme Court, ‘serial’ Clerks Are More the Norm, Study Finds.” Reuters, 2023.

Socawibawa, Nur Indra, and Arif Wibowo. “Independensi Kekuasaan Kehakiman Hukum Acara Mahkamah Konstitusi: Independensi, Kekuasaan Kehakiman, Mahkamah Konstitusi.” Jurnal Penelitian Multidisiplin 2, no. 1 SE (February 2023): 101–7. https://doi.org/10.58705/jpm.v2i1.103.

Suhariyanto, Budi. “Quo Vadis: Status Jabatan Dan Sistem Karir Kepaniteraan Peradilan.” Jurnal Hukum Dan Peradilan 3, no. 1 (2014).

Supreme Court of India. “Committees,” n.d.

———. “Scheme for Engaging Law Clerk-Cum-Research Associates on Short-Term Contractual Assignment in the Supreme Court of India – April, 2023,” 2023.

Supreme Court of Israel. “Foreign Clerkships at the Supreme Court of Israel,” n.d.

Supreme Court of The United States of America. “About the Fellowships,” n.d.

———. “FAQs - General Information,” n.d.

Sutiyoso, Bambang. “Pembentukan Mahkamah Konstitusi Sebagai Pelaku Kekuasaan Kehakiman Di Indonesia.” Jurnal Konstitusi 7, no. 6 (2010).

Syahputra, Dedy, and Zulman Subaidi. “Kedudukan dan Mekanisme Pengisian Hakim Mahkamah Konstitusi dalam Sistem Ketatanegaraan Indonesia.” REUSAM Jurnal Ilmu Hukum 9, no. 1 (2021).

The Bar Council of India. “Vision Statement 2011-2013,” n.d.

Ul Akmal, Diya, Fatkhul Muin, and Pipih Karsa. “Prospect of Judicial Preview in the Constitutional Court Based on the Construction of Constitutional Law” 8 (December 2020).

United States Courts. “Supreme Court Procedures,” n.d.

United States of America. 28 U.S. Code (n.d.).

University of Michigan Law Library. “U.S. Supreme Court Research Guide: Overview,” n.d.

Uzelac, Alan, and Marko Bratković. “Croatia: Supreme Court Between Individual Justice and System Management BT - Supreme Courts Under Pressure: Controlling Caseload in the Administration of Civil Justice.” edited by Pablo Bravo-Hurtado and Cornelis Hendrik van Rhee, 127–52. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63731-6_7.

Wada, Igam Arya, Felix Alexander Kurniawan, and Agnes Sinta. “Ius Constituendum Kewenangan Judicial Preview Di Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Indonesia.” Jurnal Kajian Konstitusi 3, no. 1 (2023). https://doi.org/10.19184/j.kk.v3i1.37917.

Wald, Patricia M. “Selecting Law Clerks.” Michigan Law Review 89, no. 152 (1990).

Wasserman, Howard M.. “Academic Feeder Judges: Are Clerkships the Key to Academia?” Judicature 105, no. 1 (2021).