Guntur Hamzah Violates the Principle of Integrity

Constitutional Justice Guntur Hamzah was declared to have violated the principle of integrity. However, the written warning sanction given to Guntur is considered strange and far from public expectations.

KOMPAS/SUHARTONO

President Joko Widodo witnessed the signing of the minutes of the inauguration of constitutional judge M. Guntur Hamzah as a Constitutional Justice at the State Palace, Jakarta, on Wednesday, November 23, 2022..

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Honorary Council of the Constitutional Court (MKMK), on Monday (20/3/2023), gave a written warning sanction on Constitutional Justice Guntur Hamzah because he was proven to violate the principle of integrity in the case of changing the Constitutional Court's (MK) decision Number 103/PUU-XX/2022 related to the dismissal of Constitutional Justice Aswanto. Guntur was proven to cross out the word (phrase) "thus" and change it to "onward" so that the decision changed meaning.

However, MKMK did not find a motive related to the deletion of the word (phrase) in the decision. MKMK also found a number of reasons for excusing Guntur, including the facts that from the beginning he bravely and frankly acknowledged his actions, and the deletion/construction of the decision is a usual practice in the MK as long as it is not carried out secretly, gaining approval from other justices. There is no standard operating procedure.