For decades, Indonesia's 1945
Constitution, the second-shortest in the modern world, was used as an apologia
by successive authoritarian regimes. A bare-bones text originally intended as a
temporary measure, it did little beyond establish basic State organs, including
a powerful presidency. It did not offer citizens real guarantees or protections.
These weaknesses were ruthlessly exploited by the military-backed regime that
President Suharto headed from 1966 until his fall in 1998. The (first ever)
amendment of the Constitution - that began the following year and was completed
in 2002 - changed all this. Enlarging and rethinking the Constitution, it
ushered in a liberal democratic system based around human rights, an open
society, and separation of powers. These reforms also created a Constitutional
Court that has provided Indonesia's first judicial forum for serious debate on
the interpretation and application of the Constitution, as well as its first
significant and easily-accessible body of detailed and reasoned judgments.
Today, Indonesian constitutional law is rich, sophisticated, and complex. This
book surveys the remarkable constitutional transition, assessing the
implementation of Indonesia's new constitutional model and identifying its
weaknesses. After covering key institutions exercising executive, legislative,
and judicial powers, the book focuses on key current constitutional debates,
ranging from human rights to decentralization, religious freedom, and control of
the economy. (Series: Constitutional Systems of the World)
