Is There Still a Way to Prove Gibran's Diploma?

The equivalency letter gains validity not merely because it was issued by an authorized official, but because it meets the legal requirements underlying its issuance.

Thus, an annulled administrative decision loses its legal force. However, the educational fact as a historical event is conceptually different from the validity of the document explaining it.

The MA's ruling must be enforced. However, the finality regarding the old letter does not in itself become an absolute prohibition on examining a new administrative application that has a different evidential basis.

Right to Prove and the Principle of Diligence

Philipus M. Hadjon in Legal Protection for the People in Indonesia (1987) emphasized the importance of legal protection against government actions. This protection includes the opportunity for citizens to defend their rights through available legal mechanisms.

In this framework, Gibran still retains his position as a citizen who can submit an administrative application as long as it meets the regulatory requirements.

However, the right to submit an application is not synonymous with the right to receive a favorable decision.

Law No. 30 of 2014 on Administrative Governance mandates officials to exercise their authority based on statutory regulations and general principles of good governance, including the principles of diligence, legal certainty, and impartiality.

Therefore, if Gibran possesses a high school diploma, diploma, certificate of completion, or other official documents proving his education abroad, in principle, he can request a new equivalency assessment according to the applicable regulations.

This request is not an attempt to revive the 2019 letter. The subject is a request for a new decision based on materially different evidence.

However, there is an important limit. The Ministry of Education and Culture should not issue a new decision that essentially only repeats the substance of the letter annulled by the MA.

New documents must be verified for authenticity, the status of their issuing institution checked, the level of education assessed, and it must be ensured that graduation indeed occurred.

If new evidence is unavailable or does not meet the requirements, the application must be dismissed for legally justifiable reasons.

Thus, a new administrative path is only possible if there is genuinely new factual and legal grounds, not merely a change in letter numbers and dates.

Distinguishing Facts, Evidence, and Decisions

This issue can be clarified through theory of proof. Michele Taruffo in his journal Rethinking the Standards of Proof (2003) outlined the importance of the connection between proof and the discovery of factual truth in judicial processes.

In the context of Gibran's education, there are three layers that should not be mixed.