UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

Customary Land Rights and State Regulation in Indonesia: Reconciling Indigenous Interests and National Development

Identification

Public canonical key

radar:r-3e072c190003c5ca344c0bb9a381e708

Authors

Rachmadi Usman

Reported year

2026

Reported language

en

Source type

article

First detected

2026-11-14T02:40:04.472236+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-14T02:40:04.472236+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

Lambung Mangkurat University

Reported affiliation countries

ID

Documentary abstract — original language

Customary land rights occupy an uneasy position in Indonesia’s legal order. The Constitution recognises customary law communities and their traditional rights, and the Basic Agrarian Law of 1960 acknowledges hak ulayat, yet both make recognition conditional on the continued existence of the community, on consistency with the national interest, and on the principles of the unitary state. At the same time, the state has pursued ambitious development programmes, including the Job Creation Law, the Land Bank Agency, and the construction of the new capital city Nusantara, that intensify demand for land. This article asks how Indonesian law can reconcile the protection of indigenous interests with national development. Using normative juridical research with statutory, case, and conceptual approaches, and drawing on scholarship published mainly between 2021 and 2026, it analyses first the normative architecture and structural tensions of recognition, and second the regulatory gaps and reform pathways for reconciliation. The analysis finds that recognition remains procedural, sectoral, and dependent on state determination; that Ministerial Regulation No. 14 of 2024 advances registration but excludes land already burdened by rights and channels ulayat land toward the Right of Management (HPL); and that development-oriented statutes continue to treat customary land as an obstacle rather than as a legally protected interest. The article argues for a rights-based and non-sectoral framework built on declaratory recognition, free, prior and informed consent, fair compensation and benefit sharing, accessible dispute resolution, and a proportionality test for any limitation of customary land rights.

Identifiers

OPENALEX

https://openalex.org/W7216230794

DOI

10.62872/dvpztv69

Documentary context

Documentary family

article

Source-reported types

article

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1

• Document · https://ejournal-nawalaedu.com/index.php/JOAR/article/view/2999

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.