Legal Pluralism in the Era of Deregulation: Reconstructing the Regulatory Framework of Customary Forest Recognition

Abstract

This article examines the tension between legal pluralism and deregulation in Indonesia’s customary forest recognition framework, focusing on the persistence of layered administrative requirements for rights that are constitutionally acknowledged. The study employs a juridical approach combining statutory, conceptual, and case analyses. It examines the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, Law Number 41 of 1999 on Forestry, the post-Job Creation regulatory framework, and Constitutional Court Decision Number 35/PUU-X/2012. The analysis finds a regulatory asymmetry: deregulation has simplified and accelerated business access to forest-related resources, while customary forest recognition remains dependent on prior recognition of indigenous legal communities and, in particular regulatory configurations, regional legal instruments. This dependency transforms recognition that should be declaratory into a procedure resembling constitutive state authorization. The article proposes a declaratory recognition model based on registration and legal verification, time-bound administrative decisions, interim protection for claimed territories under review, integrated participatory mapping, and an objection mechanism for third parties. Under this model, the state confirms a pre-existing legal status rather than creating the underlying customary right. Such reconstruction would align legal certainty with constitutional recognition, reduce procedural inequality, preserve safeguards against overlapping claims, and make deregulation compatible with legal pluralism and ecological justice.