Prof. Fitra Arsil Delivered his Professor Inaugural Oration on Diversification of Legislative Power
Universitas Indonesia (UI) inaugurated Prof. Dr. Fitra Arsil, S.H., M.H., as a permanent professor in Constitutional Law, Faculty of Law (FH) UI, at Balai Sidang, UI Depok Campus, this morning (Wednesday, 8/5). The inaugural ceremony was led by UI Rector Prof. Ari Kuncoro, S.E., M.A., Ph.D. Prof. Fitra delivered an inaugural speech titled “Diversification of Legislative Power: The Phenomenon of Parliamentary Weakening, Presidential Superiority, and the Escalation of Political Judicialization“.
Prof. Fitra said that currently the legislative power seems to have radically shifted. It is not only in charge of implementing laws, but also of drafting the conception and formulation of laws to be issued. It is also equipped with reactive power to reject draft laws discussed in parliament and even further, the executive with the increasing president’s legislative power, also has proactive power to control the legislative agenda in parliament.
Furthermore, he said, when the president’s legislative power is owned by a president with majority support in parliament (partisan power), it appears that parliament delegates its legislative power to the executive. “On the other hand, it is also mentioned that modern judicial power is deeply involved in policy making, not just handling disputes. The judicial power now instead of bringing the issue of being intervened, on the contrary, the judicial power becomes the party that intervenes in the law-making power,” said Prof. Fitra.
The president’s power in the legislative field is very large and the types of power are also very diverse. When these large and diverse powers meet with high partisan power, the risk of domination of a stable executive power, minimal control and leading the agenda in parliament becomes a reality that must be accepted. If this situation is combined with the reality of judicial power that intervenes in public policy and represents political groups, then the dominance of the winner’s political power becomes absolute and unavoidable.
“Recommending regulatory changes is indeed an option that seems easy to mention, but the idea of regulatory changes must come from a comprehensive conceptual idea. The idea of separation of powers should be mentioned as still relevant to be maintained. Deviations from this idea must be proven within the framework of maintaining the mechanism of mutual control and mutual limitation so that the relationship remains critical,” said Prof. Fitra.
Therefore, the distinctive character of each institution must be maintained and should not be confused. Even though the role of the judiciary is inevitable to play a role in the formation of public policy, it needs to be understood that the process of forming public policy in the judiciary must be different from that which occurs in parliament.
According to Prof. Fitra, the relationship between the needs of constituents and lawmakers has two sides of the coin that are interesting to study. On the one hand, lawmakers will try to listen to and absorb the aspirations of constituents to be realized in legislation.
On the other hand, lawmakers will also ignore the aspirations of other people who are not their constituents. This polarization is a very natural feature in the law-making process. There is an issue of siding with the constituent group in negotiating the ratification of the law. This is what makes the product of legislation potentially only concerned with the interests of certain groups. Thus, it can be understood that the process of forming laws carried out by the legislature is not solely for the benefit of all citizens, but for the benefit of constituents and their political campaigns. This is what causes the outcome of the law to be one-sided interest.
“The character of the law-making process and the legislative body as the formulator is very different from the character of the judicial power institution that has the right to test legislative products or political judicialization. The Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct mention six principles that must be owned by the judicial power, namely independence, impartiality, integrity, propriety, equality, competence and diligence,” said Prof. Fitra.
Until now, Prof. Fitra has actively produced scientific works that have been published in various national and international journals. Some of these scientific publications include Law Making Activities during Lame Duck Sessions in Indonesia 1997-2020 (2023); Indonesian Parliamentary System Studies on the Implementation of the Parliamentary System in Indonesia (2023); Ministerial Authority in Formulating Regulations Related to Presidential Lawmaking Doctrine (2023); and The disappearance of the ‘legislative model’: Indonesian Parliament’s Experience in Response to Covid-19 (2022).
Prof. Dr. Fitra Arsil, S.H., M.H., completed his undergraduate to doctoral education at FHUI. In 2000 he received his law degree, then in 2004 he completed his postgraduate program, and in 2015 he earned his doctorate. His inauguration coincided with FHUI’s Centennial Commemoration. This not only confirms FHUI’s full commitment to advancing legal education and research, but also serves as an important symbol in the institution’s long history of developing legal science in Indonesia.
Also present among the invited guests were the Chairman of the General Election Supervisory Board of the Republic of Indonesia (Bawaslu RI) Rahmat Bagja, SH. LL. M.; Commissioner of the Judicial Commission Binziad Kadafi, S.H., LL.M., Ph.D.; Member of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) RI Drs. H. Tamsil Linrung; Indonesian Ambassador to Lebanon Dr. H. Hajriyanto Y. Thohari, M.A.; Member of DPD RI DKI Jakarta and Professor of FHUI Prof. Dr. H. Jimly Asshiddiqie, S.H., M.H.; Professor of the Institute of Domestic Government (IPDN) Prof. Dr. Djohermansyah Djohan, M.A.; Professor of Faculty of Law, University of Muhammadiyah Surakarta Prof. Dr. Aidul Fitriciada Azhari, S.H., M.Hum.; and Professor of Faculty of Law, University of Padjadjaran Prof. Susi Dwi Harjanti, S.H., LL.M, Ph.D..
