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INDONESIAN PEOPLE AND SOCIETY

THE 1945 CONSTITUTION

Written by:
GROUP 3

Baiq Himawati

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Deniza Ariani

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Fitriahana
Gianna Larenta

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Gilang Nusantara

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Johanes Raymond H

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Muhammad Arbani

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THE 1945 CONSTITUTION

According to the oxford dictionary, the definition of a constitution is A body


of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or
other organization is acknowledged to be governed, and so a constitution is a basic
law which guides the administration of a country.
A constitution has many different functions, one of them is to provide for the
governmental powers, the legal system, and the rights of citizens in the nation. Some
of the other functions of a state are as followed:
1. The Constitution serves as a national document containing agreements on
political, legal, educational, cultural, and economic fundamental aspects and
purposes of a country.
2. As a kind of birth certificate of a new state.
3. As the supreme source of law.
4. As a symbol of unity and national identity.
5. As a means of limiting governmental power.
6. As a protector of human rights and the citizens freedom.
There are two types of constitution, written constitution and unwritten
constitution. As their names state, a constitution can be either written or unwritten.
A written constitution is a formal document defining the nature of the
constitutional settlement, the rules that govern the political system, and the rights of
citizens and governments in a codified form. An example of a written constitution is
Indonesia's constitution, which is the 1945 Constitution.
An unwritten constitution is one in which most of the principles of the
government

have never been enacted in the form of laws. It consists of customs,

conventions, traditions, and some written laws bearing different dates. It is

unsystematic, indefinite, and un-precise. Such a constitution is not the result of


conscious and deliberate efforts of the people. One of the examples of an unwritten
constitution is the United Kingdom's constitution. Unlike many other nations, the UK
has no single constitutional document.
Indonesia's 1945 constitution is a written constitution. It was first enacted as a
valid Indonesian state constitution at the PPKI trial on August 18 1945, the day after
Indonesian independence. Although the constitution has been officially enacted, but it
was not directly used as a reference in every governmental decision-making. The
1945 constitution was essentially really only used as a tool in order to immediately
establish an independent state, namely the Republic of Indonesia. It was intended as a
temporary constitution that had to be replaced with a new one when the state became
established and independent, and when the circumstances would allow it.
Since the August 18 1945 until now, Indonesia has used three different
constitutions, namely the 1945 Constitution, the 1949 Constitution of RIS (Republik
Indonesia Serikat) and the Provisional Constitution of 1950. Viewed from its period
of enactment, the application of the three constitutions can be broken down into four
periods, namely:
1. August 18, 1945 - December 27, 1949, the 1945 Constitution is applied.
2. December 27, 1949 - August 17, 1950, the 1949 Constitution of RIS is
applied.
3. August 17, 1950 - July 5, 1959, the Provisional Constitution of 1950 is
applied.
4. July 5, 1959 - October 19, 1999, the 1945 Constitution is once again applied,
however, several changes to the constitution were made.
The 1945 Constitution has experienced a few changes until now. One of the
demands of the 1998 Reform was to make changes (amendments) to the 1945
Constitution. The backgrounds of those demands amongst others were because since

since the New Order era, the supreme power was in the hands of the Assembly (and
not in the hands of the people), the President had too much power, and because of the
existence of some laws that were too "flexible" (which could have caused multiple
interpretations). The purpose of making changes to the 1945 Constitution was to
enhance basic rules such as the order of the state, sovereignty of the people, human
rights, division of powers, the existence of democracy and rule of law, and other
matters in accordance with the aspirations and needs of the nation's development.
Changes to the constitution were made with the condition of not changing the
Preamble, retaining the state structure of unity or later better known as the Republic
of Indonesia, as well as reinforcing the presidential system of governance.
In the time period of 1999-2002, the 1945 Constitution experienced 4 changes
(amendments) which were stipulated during the General Assembly and MPR Annual
Trial:
1. General Session, 1999, 14-21 October 1999 First Amendment of the 1945
constitution
2. 2000 MPR Annual Session, 7-18 August 2000 Second Amendment of the
1945 constitution
3. 2001 MPR Annual Session, 1-9 November 2001 Third Amendment of the
1945 constitution
4. 2002 MPR Annual Session, 1-11 August 2002 1945 Fourth Amendment
These four amendments include very deep and broad aspects as well as
amends a number of chapters which their substances are subject to a few changes or
supplementations. Before the amendments, the 1945 constitution was only made up
of 16 chapters, 37 articles and 47 paragraphs plus 4 paragraph of the Transitional
Provisions and Supplementary Rules. After being amended four times, the 1945
constitution consisted of 20 chapters, 73 chapters, plus paragraph 3 of Article 171 of
the Transitional Provisions and Supplementary Rules 2 article. The substance of the
amendments changed the most basic things on the political systemand constitutional

implications for the changes in various laws and political life of Indonesia in the
future. In this framework the various new legislation in the field of politics are
drafted, namely the Law of Political Parties, Election Law Legislative and
Presidential Elections Act Structure and Status of the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR), the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council
(DPD) .

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