The Characters of Special Region According to The 1945 Constitution of Republic of Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia, based on the 1945 Constitution, the second Amendment, recognizes the existence of a Special Region and its distinctive governance. Article 18B, Paragraph (1), of the 1945 Constitution reads, “The State shall recognize and respect entities of regional administration that possess a specificity or a distinctiveness that are to be regulated by law”. Previously, the governance of special region was also regulated in the first version of the 1945 Constitution that was stipulated on August 18, 1945. In addition, it is contained in other constitutions that were formerly effective in Indonesia: the 1949 Constitution of the Republic of the United States of Indonesia, and the 1950 UUDS. The clearest arrangements regarding the status of special region were covered by the 1950 UUDS, whereas the 1945 and the 1949 Constitutions do not provide detailed description of special regional government units. This triggers some fundamental questions related to the substance of special region. This study reveals several facts related to the existence and administration of government in special regions. Among other things, the current arrangement does not open up the possibility of forming new special regions and the administration of special region only exists at the provincial level.