From June 6th-8th 2012, a three-day traning program on the litigation of laws in line with constitutional principles has been carried out in Bandung, West Java. This training, which has been jointly carried out by the Indonesian Ministry for Justice and Human Rights (KEMENKUMHAM) and the Directorate for Legislation (Direktorat Legislasi, Peraturan Perundang-undangan), had been attended by 70 participants from various law departments of Indonesian Ministries and further institutions. The main goal of the training was to integrate the idea of the national constitution into the legal drafting from the very beginning. This kind of “judicial preview” of laws can reduce the number of lawsuits at the Indonesian Constitutional Court and, at the same time, guarantee the constitutionality of the respective legal draft. The training program was divided into three parts:

• Opening remarks by the General Director of the department for legal drafting, Mr. Wahiddudin Adams, who also emphasized the good cooperation between the Ministry for Justice and Human Rights and the Hanns-Seidel-Foundation. Further opening remarks were held by the director of HSF Jakarta and the director of the legal drafting department, publications and cooperation. The opening was followed by a speech of the former Indonesian Constitutional Judge, Professor Ahmad Roestandi on the topic judicial review and constitutional procedures at the Indonesian Constitutional Court. Mr. Roestandi was working at the Constitutional Court during its founding days as a representative from the Indonesian Army (TNI).

• On the afternoon of the first workshop day, the Justice of the Supreme Court of Indonesia (Mahkamah Agung) delivered a speech on judicial review at this institution. In general, the Indonesian Constitutional Court is responsible for reviewing legal drafts of the government based on the Indonesian constitution, while the Supreme Court is responsible for reviewing bylaws and regulations based on existing national laws. For instance, the local decrees and regulations from provinces, districts and cities are being reviewed by the Supreme Court. This also includes the so-called Sharia-bylaws, which have been drafted by several local administrations throughout Indonesia. The review of these regulations based on the laws on regional autonomy is triggered by a lawsuit and can be annulled. Unfortunately, the criteria for reviewing these laws are still not clearly defined, for instance, factual findings on social reality and ideology of the Indonesian state are being discussed.

• The last two days comprised practical exercises for legal drafting, litigation of laws and judicial reasoning. The participants had the possibility to learn such legal instruments for successful application at their respective institutions.