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Chief Justice Anwar Usman opening the National Seminar on the Implementation of Constitutional Court Decision on the Judicial Review of Forestry Law in Surakarta, Saturday (16/3). Photo by Humas MK/Ilham.

Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman speaking at the Seminar National on the implementation of Constitutional Court Decision No. 35/PUU-X/2012 on the Judicial Review of Law No. 41 of 1999 on Forestry in the Effort to Protect Citizens’ Constitutional Rights and Customary Law Community Rights over Customary law forests in the National Legislation in Surakarta on Saturday (16/3/2019).

In the collaborative event with the Law Faculty of Sebelas Maret University (UNS), Justice Anwar said that the Constitutional Court Decision is sound but disagreement arose from different perspectives. The decision is related to only customary law forests.

Justice Anwar said that the Indonesian history is not separate from customary law communities. Those communities have been recognized since the colonial rule. However, although they are acknowledged legally and politically, they are often marginalized and have difficulties in fighting for their traditional right.

In the judicial review of the Forestry Law, a number of customary law community groups questioned the status of customary law forests as state forests, which could be seized by state at any time, when they in fact belonged to customary law communities. Those groups believed that the provision in Law No. 41 of 1999 on Forestry had denied their right to customary law forests.

The Constitutional Court had ruled that the Forestry Law, in this case the Government, had discriminated against customary law communities. Justice Anwar said that the Constitutional Court in its decision had viewed that customary law communities had potentially and factually been restricted from fulfilling their needs with forest resources. He said that protection to customary law communities is a consequence of the 1945 Constitution.

Protection of the rights of customary law communities requires attention and cooperation from all stakeholders. He hoped that the seminar would generate outstanding formulations in relation to the issue.

Not Responsibility of the Constitutional Court

Head of Constitutional Court Public Relations Department Fajar Laksono Suroso said that the implementation of Constitutional Court decisions is no longer the responsibility of the Constitutional Court. However, it also poses problems in constitutional courts of other countries. He said that it is because of many conflicting interests and the lack of legal penalty for not implementing Constitutional Court decisions, including the decision on the Forestry Law, which has not been followed up.

UNS agrarian law expert Lego Karjoko, Malinau Regent Yansen Tipa Padan, Director General of Social Forestry and Environmental Partnership of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Bambang Supriyanto, and UNS customary law expert Muljanto also delivered presentations at the seminar.

The seminar led to the recommendation of the drafting of the Law on Customary Law Community; the state’s role in recognizing the autonomy of customary law communities in order to implement the Constitutional Court decision; the national mapping of the status of customary law communities by mapping the customary law forests managed by those communities; the collaboration between the central and local government; the participation of universities, NGOs, public figures, and customary law communities to accelerate the implementation of the Constitutional Court decision; and the state’s duty to respect and fulfill the constitutional rights of customary law communities. (Ilham/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)

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