OVERVIEW

Land is an asset that is of vital importance to all living beings, however it is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity in the Republic of Indonesia, with relentless population growth and natural-resource extraction being the primary reasons behind this paucity of usable land. When the republic was first established by the country's founding fathers, it was firmly believed that the state would have ultimate control over Indonesia’s land and natural resources, and this ideology is manifest in Article 33 (3) of 1945 Constitution.

Article 33, as quoted by many law experts, has become the Grundnorm (Basic norm) in Indonesia’s regulatory framework as it pertains to land affairs, specifically Law No. 5 of 1960 on Basic Agrarian Provisions (“Agrarian Law”). With the objective in mind of controlling and managing Indonesia’s natural resources for the greater good of the Indonesian people,[1] this law became the lex generalis for all subsequent implementing regulations relating to natural resources, be they located on or beneath land, in water, or in airspace.[2]