Forestry Ministry’s Director-General for Forestry Planning Ade Tri Ajikusumah for the judicial review of Law No. 6 of 2023 on Job Creation, Friday (5/16/2025). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.
JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held another material judicial review of Law No. 18 of 2013 on the Prevention and Eradication of Forest Destruction (P3H Law) as amended by Law No. 6 of 2023 on Job Creation for case No. 181/PUU-XXII/2024 on Friday, May 16, 2025. The Court heard the House of Representatives’ (DPR) and the president’s (Government) testimonies. The president was represented by the Forestry Ministry’s Director-General for Forestry Planning Ade Tri Ajikusumah, who said that the Government keeps forests from illegal unilateral destruction through the Job Creation Law.
“The Government provides protection to communities living around and within forest areas by providing a limit of at least five consecutive years. This aims to protect the forests from destruction by encroachers who claim to be local communities,” Ade said before the constitutional justices.
Perkumpulan Pemantau Sawit (Sawit Watch) as the Petitioner challenges Article 12A, Article 17A, and Article 110B of Law No. 18 of 2013 as amended by Article 37 paragraph (4) points 4, 6, and 20 of Law No. 6 of 2023 on Job Creation. They argue that the phrases “excluded” and “and registered in the Forest Area arrangement policy” in Article 12A paragraph (2) of Law No. 18 of 2013 are against Article 28I paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution.
Ade explained that the settlement of land plots that have been controlled and utilized and/or have been given rights before they are designated as forest areas is carried out by removing them from the state forest area. Meanwhile, the settlement of control of land plots controlled and utilized after they are designated as state forest areas within the state forest areas begins with inventory and verification. These provisions are regulated under Government Regulation (PP) No. 23 of 2021 on the Implementation of Forestry.
Therefore, Ade said, the settlement of community rights residing in and/or around forest areas has been accommodated in the settlement provisions under said government regulation. He argued that Article 12A paragraph (2) provides legal certainty for the community with a minimum requirement of five years and mandatory registration, so people who are really attached to the forest can legally obtain management rights or residence rights.
In addition, the a quo norms also prevent illegal encroachment and misuse of forest land by limiting unilateral claims by new entities who want to control land illegally. The Government also revealed that the a quo norms support social forestry programs to provide management permits to local communities in Community Forestry (HKm), Village Forest (HD), or Forestry Partnership schemes. They also encourage the resolution of tenurial conflicts with official records, so conflicts between the community and the Government or companies can be minimized because there is certainty over who has the right to manage the area.
The legal subjects prohibited from carrying out activities in Article 12 are only individuals and/or corporations that commit acts of forest destruction in an organized manner. Community groups living in or around forest areas that conduct traditional cultivation and/or logging for their own use and not for commercial purposes are not legal subjects prohibited from carrying out the activities in Article 12.
However, the imposition of administrative sanctions in Article 12A paragraph (1) only targets individuals residing in and/or around forest areas for at least five years who violate Article 12 letters a through f and/or h. Such sanctions on corporations that commit acts of organized forest destruction is not mentioned in Article 12A, but in several other articles.
Meanwhile, the House had not submitted its testimony and was not present at today’s hearing. Before concluding the hearing, Chief Justice Suhartoyo said that the Petitioner could only present two experts and two witnesses at the next hearing, while the rest could only be presented in writing. The next hearing will be held on Friday, May 23, 2025.
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The Petitioner is an organization established in 1998 to conduct studies on policies and laws relating to the management of natural resources, especially palm oil and its impact on ecology, society, and economy. They are represented by executive board coordinator Nurhanudin Achmad. They argued that administrative sanctions and administrative fines in forestry regulated by Law No. 18 of 2013 are not a true solution because they would only give oil palm large companies in forest areas impunity.
The Petitioner also wants to fight for their legal interests as they aim to seek and provide legal justice and legal certainty to farmers/planters and indigenous peoples who have lived around and within Indonesian forest areas, so as to realize their vision and mission. They believe the enforcement of these articles would hinder the realization of their vision, mission, and efforts to fight for people’s sovereignty in natural resource management through the protection, preservation, utilization, and control of natural resources in a fair and sustainable manner.
The Petitioner explained that many individuals residing in and/or around forest areas who carry out activities as referred to in Article 12 letters a through f and/or letter h of the Law have not been registered in the forest area arrangement policy. Therefore, it is the Government’s duty to carry out forest area arrangement for these individuals. This registration requirement as stipulated in Article 12A of the Law has led to the Government potentially acting repressively against unregistered individuals.
The Petitioner argued that the Government should have acted persuasively towards these unregistered individuals by registering them.
Read the petition for case No. 181/PUU-XXII/2024.
Author : Mimi Kartika
Editor : N. Rosi
PR : Fauzan F.
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.
Friday, May 16, 2025 | 11:34 WIB 215