Reconstructing Checks and Balances in State Budgetary Shifts: A Constitutional Analysis of Constitutional Court Decision No. 100/PUU-XXIV/2026

Abstract

Constitutional Court Decision Number 100/PUU-XXIV/2026, delivered on 16 September 2026, reviewed the Government's power to amend and reallocate appropriations under Law Number 17 of 2025 on the 2026 State Budget. This study analyses the model of checks and balances constructed by the Court and proposes a reconstruction of the oversight mechanism for budget reallocation. It employs normative legal research using statutory, case, and conceptual approaches. The findings are threefold. First, the Court distinguishes the executive's power to implement the budget from the power to set budget policy, which belongs jointly to the President and the House of Representatives (DPR). Second, the Court requires DPR approval for changes that alter central government spending by function and for fiscal measures taken in response to economic threats, extending the DPR's budgetary function throughout the fiscal year rather than ending it at enactment. Third, the functional threshold chosen by the Court remains too coarse to capture substantive reallocations between programmes within a single function. The article proposes a tiered oversight model based on the materiality of reallocation, combined with transparency and audit obligations. This reconstruction requires legislative follow-up through amendments to the State Finance Law and subsequent annual budget laws.