The Constitutional Court of Indonesia (MK) and Universitas Pelita Harapan Law Faculty (FH UPH) held the “Identity of Indonesian Constitution in the Vision of Global Constitutionalism” National Seminar on 4 October 2019 at UPH Lippo Village campus, Karawaci, Tangerang. Dr. Anwar Usman, S.H., M.H., the Head of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia, and Dr. Maruarar Siahaan, S.H., M.H., Judge of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia of 2003 – 2009 period, Prof. Dr. Syamsudin Haris, Researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, and Prof. Susi Dwi Harijanti, S.H., LL.M., Ph.D, Professor of FH UPH, were keynote speakers at the event.

In his short speech, Dr. Anwar said that the Constitutional positions reflect the value and identity of a nation. Therefore, each constitution must have its uniqueness. Since Indonesia’s independence, the Constitution has been discussed according to the values treasured by the citizens and based on the Pancasila. It has also been discussed that the Constitution has a global scope.

At the end of his speech, Dr. Anwar also delivered his appreciation and amazement toward Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) in being successful under the leadership of Chancellor Dr. (Hon) Jonathan L. Parapak, M.Eng.Sc..

Dr. Anwar said, “Under the leadership of the Chancellor, UPH become extraordinary. Recently, there was an FH UPH graduate who led the plenary session of MPR RI and became the youngest DPR member. This proves that under the leadership of the UPH Chancellor, UPH is capable of birthing future leaders of the nation.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Maruarar Siahaan explained the challenges faced by the Constitution. According to him, the challenges faced by our Constitution is how to unite all cultures and values of the citizens and to free it from colonialism. Another challenge is to adjust the nation’s values amid the current of globalization.

Adding to Dr. Maruarar Siahaan, Prof. Susi Dwi Harijanti summarized that the Constitution as an identity is the genetic code that differentiates the nation from other contexts. The role of context is different from one constitution and the next.

Dr. Syamsudin Haris led the Constitutional Amendment discourse. In his discussion, he believes that the Constitution has many problems today.

Dr. Syamsudin Haris said, “We need to amend the Constitution because there are many problems with it today. We must patch it up because ever since Pak Harto stepped down, the civil element has turned vague.”

At the end of each speech, it is concluded that the Constitution of a nation has its specialty and faces different challenges. Through the discussions in the Seminar, it is expected that the students of FH UPH of 2016 – 2019 batch and the Professors of FH UPH will learn more about the development of law in Indonesia and without.