Two Mining Law Provisions Stricken by MK

Looking away from the ongoing debate on mining products export, the legal foundation of all mineral and coal mining activities in Indonesia, namely Law No. 4 of 2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining (“Mining Law”), has undergone three judicial reviews at the Constitutional Court (“MK”). On 4 June 2012, MK rendered a decision over case No. 25/PUU-VIII/2010 (“25/2010 Decision”).

The 25/2010 Decision granted the applicant’s request to challenge Article 22 (f) and Article 52 (1) of the Mining Law, which found the two articles to be unconstitutional and in contradiction with Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution. 

Article 22 (f) of the Mining Law provides that a mining area can be deemed as a People’s Mining Area (Wilayah Pertambangan Rakyat – WPR) if it has been mined by the local natives for 15 years. In other words, the local natives’ mining area would not be protected with the WPR status, if they have not conducted any mining related activities for 15 years. This gives way to well financed private businesses to appropriate native mining area.