The lawyers appeared before the court a day after Attorney-General H. M. Prasetyo said it was possible more prisoners could be added to the list of those to be killed in the second round of executions in Indonesia this year.

Expert witness Otong Rosadi, a law lecturer at Ekasakti University, told the state administrative court of Jakarta it did have jurisdiction to hear the Bali nine pair's appeal.

Lawyers for the Australians are appealing against a ruling last month that the court does not have the authority to rule on a presidential decree. They want to challenge Indonesian President Joko Widodo's rejection of Chan and Sukumaran's clemency pleas, on the grounds he did not consider their cases individually or take into account their rehabilitation.

Mr Otong said according to the constitution there was no public policy that could not be challenged in court or parliament. He said that after an amendment to the constitution the president's prerogative rights were no longer absolute.

Asked by Judge Tri Cahya Indra Permana if there had been previous court cases won that challenged the president's constitutional rights, Mr Otong said "no".

The judge said the case could provide a trigger for other lawsuits. The case has been adjourned until Wednesday for both sides to put their concluding arguments.

Nine drug felons, including Chan and Sukumaran, are already on the remote island of Nusakambangan awaiting execution.

A tenth, Filipina domestic helper and mother of two Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, will be transferred to the island after her request for a judicial review of her case was rejected last week.

"I cannot confirm now whether we will just go ahead with those 10 people or not, because the situation is dynamic and more clemency proposals are also rejected, so it is possible that more [inmates] will be put on the current list," Mr Prasetyo told The Jakarta Post.

The Philippine government reportedly intends to file a second petition for a judicial review into the case of Veloso, who was arrested carrying 2.6 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia in 2010. Her family maintain she was set up by her godsister and had no idea there were drugs hidden in the lining of her suitcase.

Philippine news website Rappler reported that Vice-President Jejomar Binay had visited Veloso's parents on Sunday and vowed to exhaust all avenues to save their daughter's life.

The Indonesian lawyer for Chan and Sukuamaran, Todung Mulya Lubis, also appealed for help through a more unusual channel.

Mr Mulya tweeted a link to a YouTube video pleading for mercy for the pair to the heavy metal band Metallica, of which Mr Joko is a fan.

"Hello @Metallica? You have to campaign to save life in Indonesia from Death Penalty. Come, sing and make plea to [the president]," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, a rally in Jakarta calling for the abolition of the death penalty was cancelled at the weekend. Protest organiser Azas Tigor Nainggolan said the rally had been postponed because those due to be executed had ongoing court cases. "We will wait until all legal processes are completed," he said.

Asked if this would be too late, Mr Azas said: "No. We will stage the protest at some point."

He also said the organisers were still waiting for a response to a letter they had sent to Mr Joko in February asking him to abolish capital punishment.

with Karuni Rompies