THE AMENDMENTS OF THE CONSTITUTION OF 1945: ITS IMPACT ON INDONESIAN LEGAL SYSTEM

AbstrakThe Constitution of 1945 was not amended for 54 years. Some people evenregarded it as 'sacred' constitution because it was 'untouchable '. Somepeople said that it was not amended because it was advantageous for therulers. This Constitution was, in fact, concise. It consisted of three parts. Thefirst is Pembukaan or Preamble. The Preamble contained, and still containsthe Pancasila, the state 's fundamental norms. The second part is the BatangTubuh or Body. This consisted of only 37 articles of primary provisions, 4articles of transitional provisions, and 2 articles of additional provisions.The third part was the Penjelasan or Elucidation (explanatorymemorandum). According to point IV of the Elucidation, the reason for theConstitution's conciseness was to avoid rigidity. The Elucidation describedsociety as dynamic and volatile, especially in time of revolution. Therefore, ifdetailed matters were stipulated in the Constitution, the state might not havebeen able to keep up with the changes in society. Furthermore, point IV ofElucidation stated that despite the Constitution is concise, the most importantthing in running the government is the semangat or spirit of those who runthe government.