Land Rights Research Articles

Navigating Resistance: The Minangkabau Indigenous Community's Opposition to the Land Certification Program in West Sumatra, Indonesia

The customary land certification program, launched in 2016 by Indonesia’s National Land Agency, continues to encounter resistance from certain indigenous communities. This study aims to explore the forms of resistance, the underlying drivers of this opposition, and strategies to address these challenges. Adopting a qualitative descriptive research design and employing a case study methodology, data were collected through in-depth interviews with thirteen informants, field observations, and analysis of relevant documents. The findings highlight three key insights. First, indigenous communities resist the program by refraining from participating, driven by concerns over the privatization of communal land. Second, this resistance is exacerbated by violations of customary practices, particularly the buying and selling of communal land following the issuance of ownership certificates. Third, mitigating this resistance requires a strategic revision of regulations governing the issuance of customary land certificates. The active involvement of local authorities and the integration of indigenous cultural values are critical for ensuring the program's success and fostering broader acceptance of land administration policies. This study underscores the importance of culturally sensitive policy frameworks and collaborative governance in addressing indigenous land rights, contributing to the broader discourse on sustainable land administration in multicultural societies.

PROBLEMATIKA PERUBAHAN HAK GUNA BANGUNAN MENJADI HAK MILIK PADA KAWASAN WISATA (STUDI DI KABUPATEN LOMBOK BARAT)

This research aims to examine and analyze the mechanism for increasing building use rights to property rights for land in the Gili Gede Sekotong tourism area, West Lombok and the obstacles faced. The type of research used in this article is normative and empirical research using the statutory regulatory approach, conceptual approach, case approach, and sociological approach.The results of the research show that the mechanism for increasing building use rights to ownership rights for land in the Gili Gede Sekotong tourist area, West Lombok, is: Submitting a written application for documents to the local National Land Office by attaching: several requirements, Submitting the application to the counter officer for research. completeness of the documents which are a requirement in the application for an increase in land rights. After the required documents are complete, then make payment for registration, measurement and land inspection fees. Carrying out measurements and inspection of the land plot, BPN follows up process of applying for an increase in building use rights to ownership rights, the applicant pays the BPHTB, and the Land Office will record the rights and issue a land certificate. The obstacle faced is that in submitting an application for an increase in rights, the applicant cannot complete the required documents for a Building Construction Permit (IMB) because even though several bungalows have been built on the land he purchased, even though the condition of the bungalows is currently in disrepair, this has not been followed up by obtaining a building construction permit ( IMB), so that when applying for an increase in file rights the document is rejected because it does not have an IMB as one of the conditions that must be met and is a cost factor.

ANALISIS KEBIJAKAN KEPEMILIKAN HAK ATAS TANAH TUMPANG TINDIH DALAM PERSPEKTIF PERATURAN PEMERINTAH NO. 24 TAHUN 1997

This study aims to analyze the overlapping land rights ownership policy in the perspective of Government Regulation No. 24 of 1997 concerning Land Registration. Overlapping land rights is a problem that is often faced in land practice in Indonesia, which can lead to disputes between parties who have claims to the same piece of land. This study examines the role of land registration as one of the instruments regulated in the Government Regulation to provide legal certainty, as well as identify the obstacles faced in its implementation. The analysis was carried out by examining legal aspects related to land registration, land dispute resolution, and protection of the rights of landowners involved in overlapping cases.

Pemberdayaan Masyarakat Terkait dengan Pentingnya Pemahaman Hak Atas Tanah di Desa Bayur Kota Samarinda

Land is a source of livelihood and subsistence for people and communities, and is considered the most basic human need due to its high value and usefulness in human life. In fact, land and people are closely intertwined. This underscores the importance of land ownership status. However, there are still individuals who are unaware of permanent land rights, such as Hak Milik, Hak Guna Bangunan, Hak Guna Usaha, and Hak Pakai. This research entitled “Community Legal Awareness of the Importance of Understanding Land Rights in Bayur Village, Samarinda City” uses empirical juridical methods and is accompanied by community service through socialization to the community. The aim is to provide explanations and discussions so that Bayur Village residents understand the importance of the ownership status of land rights for their owners, which can be used as a place to live and productive land that is beneficial to the community in Bayur Village. Through legal counseling, PKM activities have been able to increase community awareness and knowledge regarding the importance of understanding land rights in order to prevent disputes over land owned by the community.

Indigenous Land Dispute Resolution in Indonesia: Exploring Customary Courts as an Alternative to Formal Judicial Processes

Indigenous tribes struggle to protect their lands, identities, and livelihoods throughout conflicts. Indigenous areas are threatened by resource exploitation and development-related land ownership conflicts, requiring efficient conflict resolution. International frameworks for post-conflict property recovery rarely address customary land rights. This study examines Indonesian traditional courts as alternatives to indigenous land disputes. It investigates the legal coherence, justice, and utility of traditional judicial proceedings using secondary legal sources in a juridical-normative manner. The study compares customary and formal legal systems, evaluates traditional court procedures for fairness, and examines their effects on sustainable land management and community empowerment. Customary justice procedures should be integrated into the legal system to promote inclusive and sustainable development and safeguard indigenous rights and traditions. The paper recommends stronger cooperation between formal and customary legal systems and suggests future research to resolve constraints and improve understanding of customary law dynamics in settling indigenous land issues in Indonesia.

Work Without Workers: Commemoration as Repression in the Construction of Brasilia (1950s–1970s)

ABSTRACT: The construction of Brasilia (1956-1960) was followed by a gradual process of attempted eviction of the construction workers that had built the city from the ground up. Known as candangos , the construction workers were celebrated as modern workers and simultaneously despised as unable to become modern citizens. They wanted to inhabit the city they had built. However, the government never conceived them as Brasilia's potential inhabitants and ignored their claims to land and city rights. This article explores unexamined archival material and non-fictional literary works from the 1950s-1970s to disentangle soft-power strategies carried out to silence the candangos, while seemingly commemorating their construction feat. Combining theories of developmentalism, monument conservation and defacement, labor, and protest, the article argues that the Brazilian government and private companies ultimately conceived the construction of Brasilia as a utopia of work without workers. It also asserts that Brasilia was a paradigmatic case showing that the history of modern commemoration is inherently linked to the history of modern silencing and repression.

Legal Protection of Eigentumsverponding Deeds in the Context of Inheritance Rights

The strength of the eigendom verponding deed in the context of inheritance rights, as well as the legal protection provided to the rights holders. The eigendom verponding deed serves as valid proof of land ownership and has significant legal implications, especially in the inheritance process. This research explores the legal protection available for holders of eigendom verponding deeds and the legal consequences arising from such deeds in the context of inheritance rights. It has been found that this deed can function as strong evidence in the inheritance process; however, it is also vulnerable to disputes if not supported by adequate documentation. This study also discusses efforts that eigendom verponding rights holders can undertake to safeguard and protect their inheritance rights. These efforts include land rights registration, conversion of rights into ownership rights, and compliance with applicable legal provisions to ensure that inheritance rights are recognized and not lost. This research emphasizes the importance of a deep understanding of the rights and obligations of eigendom verponding deed holders, as well as the need for consultation with legal advisors to minimize the risk of losing rights.

Establishment of a Special Agrarian Court

The establishment of a Special Agrarian Court is often the most common problem faced by communities related to land. These problems can be grouped into three categories, namely: uncertainty over land rights, monopoly over land ownership, and the sacrifice of economically weak groups for land tenure interests. One of the reasons why decisions related to land cannot be implemented is because there are several decisions that have permanent legal force but conflict with each other regarding the land object that is being disputed. The purpose of this research is to achieve justice in dealing with agrarian conflict problems, a special institution is needed. who can run the justice mechanism properly. A study has proposed the establishment of an Agrarian Court as a judicial body that focuses on resolving agrarian disputes, with the authority to conduct examinations, trials, and make decisions related to these conflicts. The method used in this research is normative law. The technique applied in this study is juridical. normative that utilizes a legal and conceptual approach.

Implementation of Electronic Land Rights Transfer In North Lombok District

Implementation of Electronic Land Rights Transfer In North Lombok District

Safeguarding Women’s Land Rights: The Role Transformational Leadership as a Game Changer: A Case of South Sudan

Carrying out the study in Juba, South Sudan, with a specific focus on safeguarding women's land rights and exploring the role of transformational leadership is not only timely but also essential for addressing gender disparities in land ownership and contributing to broader efforts towards gender equality and sustainable development in the region. The incorporation of UNSCR 1325 in South Sudan has significantly altered the narrative surrounding women's roles, shifting them from passive recipients to active participants in peace and security endeavours. This resolution underlines the intrinsic right of women to engage in such processes, influencing the development of crucial policies and Legal Frameworks geared towards gender parity and women's empowerment, exemplified by instruments like the Transitional Constitution and National Action Plan. Moreover, UNSCR 1325 emphasizes the imperative of addressing the specific relief needs of women and girls during and after conflicts, positioning women as indispensable agents in relief and recovery processes. The study conducted in Juba gathered respondents from diverse backgrounds, including members of Community-Based Organizations, Faith Groups, women associations, Civil Society Organizations, village committees, community leaders, policymakers, subject matter experts, and political parties. Employing a qualitative research approach, the study utilized Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews to collect data and insights. Thirty research participants partook in three separate FGDs, each comprising ten members, while twenty-three Key Informant interviews were conducted with stakeholders. The qualitative data underwent meticulous thematic analysis, revealing the significant challenges faced by women in South Sudan when asserting their land rights, exacerbated by conflicting statutory and customary laws. The transformative impact of UNSCR 1325 was a central revelation from the study, reshaping women's roles in peace and security efforts and emphasizing their active participation. This paradigm shift has been instrumental in shaping policies and legal frameworks in South Sudan, such as the Transitional Constitution and National Action Plan, which prioritize gender equality and women's empowerment. Conducting further studies focusing on women's land rights and transformational leadership in South Sudan is crucial for advancing gender equality and sustainable development, with recommendations including aligning laws, providing training, engaging champions, establishing information-sharing platforms, and developing comprehensive training programs tailored to promoting women's rights in land ownership. These recommendations aim to guide future interventions in fortifying women's land rights, fostering gender equality, and empowering women as pivotal actors in sustainable development efforts in South Sudan

Upaya Peralihan Sertifikat Kepemilikan Tanah Apabila tidak Diketahui Keberadaan Penjualnya dalam Perspektif PTUN

The transfer of land ownership certificates is an important legal process in Indonesia's land system, regulated by various laws and regulations, such as the Basic Agrarian Law and its implementing regulations. The procedure for transferring ownership certificates begins with a legitimate sale and purchase transaction, followed by registration with the National Land Agency (BPN). However, in practice, obstacles often arise, one of which is when the seller's whereabouts are unknown, which can hinder the process of transferring land rights. In this situation, the buyer can take various legal actions, including filing a civil lawsuit in the District Court to obtain a court ruling confirming the legal transfer of rights, or submitting a request for a decree to the Administrative Court (PTUN) if BPN rejects the application for the transfer of land rights. The perspective of the PTUN legal procedure explains that the buyer can challenge the BPN decision if it is deemed contrary to the law or the principles of good governance (AUPB), with sufficient evidence to support their claim. In this case, PTUN plays a role in providing justice and legal certainty for the aggrieved party. Therefore, even when the seller’s whereabouts are unknown, through the appropriate procedures and legitimate legal actions, the buyer can still acquire ownership rights over the land purchased.

Securing indigenous land rights through community engagement in South African mining communities: Lessons from international and national legislative and policy

Securing indigenous land rights through community engagement in South African mining communities: Lessons from international and national legislative and policy

Collective Land Rights and Capitalist Economy, 19th–21st Centuries

Collective Land Rights and Capitalist Economy, 19th–21st Centuries

The trajectory of a transnational right to land norm

Abstract In conflicts around land usage, vulnerable groups are often threatened by dispossession of their land. Governance structures that protect both individual and collective land rights are thus necessary. To counter such risks, social movements engaged towards the establishment of a right to land norm in transnational governance. Building on literature on norm emergence, this paper exemplifies the involvement of activists in the creation process of two transnational regulations that address land: The Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1989 and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations in 2012. Both documents emerged in response to increasing global awareness of each specific issue. In the case of ILO 169, rising awareness of social inequality and discrimination of indigenous peoples and in the case of the VGGT the rapidly growing global land market. The paper reflects on the importance of timing, engagement, and discourse in creating norms and embedding them in global governance.

Land rights and a national representative body: Institutionalisation as a criterion for Indigenous policy success and failure

Land rights and a national representative body: Institutionalisation as a criterion for Indigenous policy success and failure

Negotiating Collective Land Rights in the Andes: Insights from contrasting trajectories on the Bolivian-Chilean altiplano, 1880s–1930s

Abstract This article develops a historicising and comparative perspective on the transformation, formalisation, and negotiation of collective land rights in the Andean Highlands. It discusses and compares the trajectories of two highland areas situated across the Bolivian-Chilean border within the context of globally and nationally shifting frontiers of market and state integration since the late 19th century. The case studies demonstrate a striking divergence in the context of the breakthrough of liberal land legislation in Latin America. Communities in the Bolivian province of Carangas were able to resist privatising pressures, while communities of the Arica highlands, once annexed and incorporated in Chile after the War of the Pacific, adjusted to a more homogeneous regime that left little room for communal land relations. Despite the stark contrasts, this article questions simplistic dichotomic framings of the unchallenged “survival” of communal land rights in Bolivia versus complete “disappearance” of communal arrangements in Chile. Empirical archival and ethnographic data point to the social reconfigurations and creative strategies through which the community as a collective legal entity and daily practice transformed. The article sheds light on the causes and longer-term implications of these regional trajectories within the context of a globalising land regime.

Penerbangan Berkelanjutan: Perlindungan Hak Masyarakat Adat Berbasis Nilai Pancasila

In Indonesia, the protection of indigenous peoples' rights in the context of the aviation industry based on Pancasila values faces complex challenges. Although there have been efforts to establish a legal basis that respects these rights, their implementation in the aviation sector is still limited. This research aims to explore the implementation of Pancasila values in the protection of indigenous peoples' rights in the aviation sector and identify collaborative steps that can be taken by the government, the aviation industry, and other stakeholders. Using a descriptive qualitative approach through literature studies, this study evaluates challenges such as the lack of participation of indigenous peoples in aviation project decisions and the lack of effective law enforcement. The results show that cooperation between governments, airlines, civil society, and indigenous peoples is essential to strengthen the protection of their rights. It is also necessary to evaluate the impact of airport development policies to ensure the protection of land rights and the sustainability of indigenous peoples' culture. The involvement of indigenous peoples in the planning of aviation projects is a concrete step to ensure the alignment of aviation infrastructure development with Pancasila values and the rights of indigenous peoples

Reimagining Kinship Systems and Networks:

Aboriginal people in Australia continue to endure the ongoing effects of 250 years of colonisation. However, the social and ontological basis of their Kinship Systems and networks highlights their resilience and resistance against western hierarchies and ideologies. Kinship Systems and networks represent the relationships between culture and nature and do not distinguish between the human and non-human world. The basis of the Kinship Systems and networks extends seamlessly beyond the human into the Ancestral and spiritual realms. As part of the creation process, Land was created first, followed by people and then languages belonging to the Land. Languages are living entities, connecting people with their Country, Ancestors and culture while transmitting intergenerational knowledges within and across thousands of generations. It is impossible to separate one from the other. These entities coexist through and beyond notions of space and time. This inseparable relationship between Land, language, and the rights of Aboriginal People forms the cornerstone of their activism. For example, Aboriginal activists in the Black Lives Matter movement in Australia fight for racial [human] rights and environmental justice consistent with their symbiotic relationship. Drawing on interviews carried out in early 2023 with Aboriginal activists engaged in the revival of languages and Land rights, this paper will examine how the relationships between sustainability, care for Country and language are articulated in and through Kinship systems and networks. It will explain the deep reciprocity, identified by activists, focusing on environmental care and sustainability of Country, language revival and social justice efforts.

Agrarian Conflicts After the Establishment of the Land Bank Agency in Indonesia

The establishment of the Land Bank in Indonesia may lead to conflicts of interest and the existence of customary land may be forgotten for reasons of land stateisation. The process of acquiring customary land for reasons of stateisation may affect the legal protection of indigenous peoples' rights. This article examines agrarian conflicts after the establishment of the Land Bank Agency and the legal protection of indigenous peoples' land. This research is examined using the normative juridical method with a statutory approach. The results of the study found that the concept of the Land Bank is in contrast to agrarian reform in terms of land acquisition operations, because land can be obtained through the transfer of land ownership by the state which is intended for investment and infrastructure development. The government needs to improve the land sector Job Creation Law and the legal regulations of the Land Bank, the government must revise the rules related to the Land Bank so that this institution can maintain a balance of land utilisation for various interests fairly. The Land Bank should be a representative of the state to protect vulnerable groups of people, one of which is indigenous peoples. Then the community must be pro-active in applying for a Material Test on articles that have negative potential, especially the regulation of land stateisation in the Job Creation Law and the legal rules regarding the Land Bank in an effort to consolidate guarantees and justifications for land rights over indigenous peoples.

Indigenous vs. Peasants’ rights? Lhaka Honhat v. Argentina and the role of the Inter-American Human Rights System in communal interethnic conflicts

This article presents a socio-legal analysis of the Lhaka Honhat case, a decades-long territorial dispute between Indigenous communities and peasant settlers (criollos) in the Northern Argentinian Province of Salta. This is the first case in which the Inter-American Court of Human Rights confronted the normative implications of interethnic communal conflicts. The court was called to apply human rights standards to resolve conflicting land claims between two similarly impoverished rural groups. The judgment compelled Argentina to protect the right to land of Indigenous communities and to relocate hundreds of criollo settlers, while incorporating some exceptional provisions that indirectly recognized the vulnerable situation of the criollo population. We argue that this decision opens a third wave in the jurisprudential evolution of Indigenous rights cases before the Inter-American System. Initially, the court focused on protecting Indigenous land rights vis-à-vis powerful interests. The second wave registered cases where Indigenous land claims were brought against the encroachment of other non-Indigenous groups holding private property rights. In this third wave, the court would confront the challenge of protecting Indigenous land while also recognizing other modes of property and livelihoods. The article describes this evolution and discusses the implications both for international jurisprudence and local communities.