It is best known for providing advice to the president as a constitutional requirement for enacting presidential clemency (Grasi) and legal rehabilitation.

As regulated by the 1985 Supreme Court Act (Indonesian: Undang-Undang Nomor 14 Tahun 1985 tentang Mahkamah Agung Republik Indonesia)[1] and has since amended twice in 2004[2] and 2009,[4] the Supreme Court's leadership consists of a Chief Justice, two Deputy Chief Justices, and several (currently seven) Chamber Presidents.

It is headed by the Supreme Court Chief Clerk (Panitera Mahkamah Agung) and subordinated under the leadership elements.

It is headed by the Supreme Court Secretary (Sekretaris Mahkamah Agung) and subordinated under the leadership elements.

According to the Constitution, candidates for Supreme Court Justices are required to have integrity and be of good character as well as be experienced in law.

The current Deputy Chief Justice for Judicial Affairs is Sunarto, who was elected to the position on 3 April 2023.

[14] The current Deputy Chief Justice for Non-Judicial Affairs is Suharto, who was elected to the position on 15 May 2024.

[18] Like most of the Indonesian legal system, the Supreme Court is badly overloaded with demands on resources.

One observer has noted that "the Supreme Court is drowning in an increasing flood of new cases each year".

[20] Partly in response to pressures of this kind, proposals for reform of the way that court business is conducted have been under consideration for some time.

The plan is to introduce a system of five chambers which will deal with criminal, civil, religious, administrative, and military affairs.

[19] The funding for the Supreme Court allocated from the national government budget in 2010 was slightly over Rp 6.0 trillion (around $US 700 million at the prevailing foreign exchange rate).

These problems receive considerable attention in Indonesia and there is much public discussion about the best ways to promote reform.

The central problem appears to be that the institutions and mechanisms for enforcement of the legal system, including the decisions of the Supreme Court, are underfunded and are operationally weak.

[28] As just one example, in a well publicised case, one of Indonesia's leading universities, the Bogor Agricultural Institute, was instructed by the Supreme Court to release certain details of controversial research conducted within the institute relating to the testing of formula milk brands on sale in Indonesia.

Sometimes later, the classical style building with six pillars on the front were fully used as the Hoggerechtshof, which included the prosecutor's office.

9/1946, Jakarta — and by extension the Hoggerechtshof building — was selected as the seat of the independent Indonesia's supreme court.

Nindya Karya as the project contractor, using the design provided by Arkonin, an architecture company.

By the completion of Blok A to E in 1989 the project cost between 14 and 17 billion Rupiah, and was officially opened by president Soeharto on 10 August 1989, where the Supreme Court Building stands to this day on 9-13 Medan Merdeka Utara street.