SUMMARY
The press or mass media is one of the pillars of democracy that functions as a balancer and means of control for the course of government and social life. This study focuses on the role and position of the Press Council in providing legal protection for the journalist profession who does not have a Journalist Competency Test program certification (Uji Kompetensi Wartawan or UWK). This research is normative legal research. Normative legal research emphasizes the coherence between the concept of law and the rule of law. In addition, this study also uses primary, secondary, and non-legal materials. The approach in this study uses a conceptual approach and a statutory approach. This legal research states that UWK as organized by the Press Council is the general ethical will of the journalist community to be bound by an instrument that targets the determination of competency parameters of the journalist profession. Furthermore, the state's responsibility for journalists who have not followed the UWK is carried out through two legal protection schemes, namely preventive legal protection and repressive legal protection. Thus, even though journalists do not yet have UWK certification, they are still entitled to legal protection from the state; because, freedom of the press is part of the human rights of every human being.