Chief Justice Suhartoyo read the verdict, which rejected the petitioners' arguments, at the court session here on Friday.
Two petitioners, Raymond Kamil and Teguh Sugiharto, challenged Article 61 Section (1) and Article 64 Section (1) of the law, which regulate the inclusion of religious data in family records and personal identity cards.
Kamil and Sugiharto, who claimed not to profess any religious faith, contended that the government should make provisions for residents without religious affiliations and expressed their objection to being associated with any faith in civil records.
Justice Arief Hidayat explained the court ruling by stating that religious freedom in Indonesia does not extend to the freedom to not profess any religious faith or beliefs.
The court viewed Indonesia's Constitution as aspiring for the realization of a religious Indonesian nation, while the first tenet of national ideology, Pancasila, reads "belief in God."
He stated that as Indonesia's founding principles guide the people to believe in the Almighty God, civil records should reflect that by requiring each resident to register their religious faith.
Justice Hidayat stated that such restrictions remain within their proportional limit and are not imposed oppressively against the people, as the law only requires each resident to declare his or her faith while giving no legal requirements about how to carry out their faith.
"Hence, irreligion, or abstaining from declaring belief in the Almighty God, cannot be regarded as freedom of religion or freedom of belief in the Almighty God," he remarked.
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Translator: Fath Putra Mulya, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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