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Issue 2517, 10/11/2014
General Corporat e
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Preserving Land Rights in Forestry Areas
The Minist er of Int erior Af f airs, Minist er of Forest ry, Minist er of Public Works, and Head of Nat ional Land Agency have issued Joint Regulat ion No. 79 of 2014, PB. 3/ Menhut -11/ 2014, 17/ PRT/ M/ 2014, and 8/ SKB/ X/ 2014 on Acquisit ion Procedures f or Land Locat ed in Forest ry Areas ( “2014 Joint Regulat ion” ).
The 2014 Joint Regulat ion was issued t o accommodat e several decision made by t he Const it ut ional Court , namely Decision No. 34/ PUU-IX/ 2011, No. 45/ PUU-IX/ 2011, and No. 35/ PUU-X/ 2012,1 which essent ially obligat es t he government t o preserve exist ing land right s locat ed in f orest ry areas. Consequent ly, t he 2014 Joint Regulat ion was issued t o set out procedures f or individuals, government al inst it ut ions, social and religious ent it ies and cust omary communit ies (collect ively ref erred as “Applicant s” )2 t o claim right s over land locat ed in f orest ry areas.
If an Applicant can prove an ent it lement over land locat ed in a f orest ry area, t he relat ed government al aut horit ies must det ermine such land as not part of f orest ry area, and grant t he Applicant t he appropriat e land right . Such a det erminat ion is crit ical t o an Applicant (owner), as Law No. 41 of 1999 on Forest ry provides t hat land locat ed in St at e f orest areas (hut an negar a) cannot be encumbered wit h any land right s (f reehold, right t o use, right t o f arm, or right t o build).3
The 2014 Joint Regulat ion is relevant t o businesses in t he f orest ry sect or and t he public in general.
Inventory Team
Every regent / mayor and governor must est ablish an invent ory t eam4 wit hin t heir j urisdict ion t hat will be responsible f or receiving, verif ying, assessing and inspect ing, land right s claims.5 The invent ory t eam at t he regency/ cit y level has t he aut horit y t o process applicat ions f or land right claims locat ed wit hin t heir regency/ cit y, while t he invent orying t eam at t he provincial level has aut horit y t o process applicat ions f or land locat ed across mult iple regencies/ cit ies wit hin a province.6
1 For m ore inform at ion see Huk um on line.com , MK Affirm s Different iat ion Bet w een Cu st om ary and St at e Forest Land and I LB No. 2297.
2
Art . 1 ( 7) , 2014 Joint Regulat ion .
3 Art . 1 ( c) ( d) , Law No. 41 of 1999 on Forest ry . For m ore inform at ion on land right see I LD No. 323.
4 Tim I nv ent arisasi Penguasaan, Pem ilikan , Penggunaan, dan Pem anfaat an Tanah ( I P4T) . This t eam is com p rised of
represent at iv es from t he land serv ices office, forest ry serv ices office, forest ry area det erm inat ion office, spat ial serv ices office, cam at , and lurah ( Art . 2 ( 2) and 3 ( 2) , 2014 Joint Regulat ion) .
5 Art . 4, 2014 Joint Regulat ion.
6 Art . 2 ( 1) and 3 ( 1) , 2014 Joint Regulat ion.
Enforcement Date
17 October 2014
Related ILB
• Acknowledgement to the Customary Law Society
• One Hundred and Nine Regulations on Land Matters Repealed:
Travelling through Indonesia’s Land Law History
• New Provision on Customary Forest • Draft Bill on Indigenous
Communities’ Right
• Authority Delegation on Land Rigts and Land Registration Re-Regulated • Digestible Overview of Indonesian
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Issue 2517, 10/11/2014
General Corporat e
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Application Procedure
Land right claim applicat ions must be submit t ed t o t he relevant invent orying t eam wit h j urisdict ion.7 There are t hree main requirement s f or land right claim in a f orest ry area, namely:
a. The Applicant must lodge t he applicat ion t hemselves, and include writ t en approval f rom ot her part ies which possess/ own t he land direct ly adj acent t o t he land being applied f or;8
b. The Applicant must physically cont rol t he land in quest ion; and9
c. The Applicant has draf t ed an Af f idavit of Physical Land Possession (Sur at Per nyat aan Penguasaan Fi si k Bi dang Tanah – “SPPFBT” ), declaring t hat t he Applicant is t he owner of t he land in quest ion. This af f idavit must be wit nessed by at least 2 persons (non-relat ives) and acknowledged by t he local village head.10
Upon receiving an applicat ion, t he invent ory t eam will procure a sat ellit e imagine of t he claimed land and perf orm a f ield inspect ion.11 Through t he f ield inspect ion, t he invent ory t eam will verif y t he legalit y of t he claim f or t he land right s12 and physical condit ion of t he land it self .13
If t he f ield inspect ion reveals t hat t he Applicant had possessed and ut ilized t he land f or at least 20 consecut ive years, t he Applicant may proceed t o regist er t heir land right s wit h t he Nat ional Land Agency pursuant t o St at e Minist er of Agrarian/ Head of Nat ional Land Agency Regulat ion No. 3 of 1997 on Implement ing Regulat ion of Government Regulat ion No. 24 of 1997 on Land Regist rat ion.14
However, if t he inspect ion f inds t hat t he Applicant did not possess and/ or ut ilize t he land f or at least 20 consecut ive years, t he land will be declared as St at e land and t he Applicant may be grant ed cert ain right s over t he land, as part of t he government land ref orm program.15 Alt ernat ively, t he Applicant may also be grant ed right s t o ut ilize t he land under t he government communit y empowerment scheme.16
Excluding Land from Forestry Areas
The invent orying t eam is responsible t o present t he result s of t he f ield inspect ion t o t he head of t he land services of f ice where t he land in quest ion is locat ed. The result s of t he f ield inspect ion will t hen be f orwarded by t he head of t he land services of f ice t o t he Direct or of Forest ry Plant ology at t he Minist ry of Forest ry (“Direct or” ).17
Based on t he result s of t he f ield inspect ion, t he Direct or will make adj ust ment s t o t he f orest area boundaries and exclude t he land in quest ion f rom t he f orest ry area.18 Thereaf t er, t he Direct or will also issue a decree Amend exist ing Forest ry Area Boundaries, which is a requirement f or t he Applicant t o regist er t heir land.19
7 Art . 4 ( a) ( b) , 2014 Joint Regulat ion. 8 Art . 6 ( 1) , 2014 Joint Regulat ion . 9
Art . 1 ( 7) and 8 ( 1) ( 2) , 2014 Joint Regulat ion.
10 Art . 7 ( b) , 2014 Joint Regulat ion.
11 Art . 6 ( 2) , 7 ( a) and 4 ( c) , 2014 Joint Regulat ion.
12 I nform at ion on legal aspect s of t he land cov ers t he st at us of t he land and any encum brances on t he land ( Art . 1 ( 9) , 2014
Joint Regulat ion) .
13 Art . 4 ( d) , 2014 Joint Regulat ion. I nform at ion on phy sical condit ion of t he land cov ering locat ion and land area ( Ar t . 1 ( 10) ,
2014 Joint Regulat ion.
14 Art . 8 ( 1) and 1 ( 16) , 2014 Joint Regulat ion.
15 Art . 8 ( 2) and 1 ( 11) , 2014 Joint Regulat ion. For m ore infor m at ion on land reform program see I LD No. 38 2. 16
Art . 8 ( 3) , 2014 Joint Regulat ion .
17 Art . 4 ( f) and 11, 2014 Joint Regulat ion. 18 Art . 12 and 13 ( 1) , 2014 Joint Regulat ion. 19
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Issue 2517, 10/11/2014
General Corporat e
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Land Rights Claims by Customary Societies
Alt hough a cust omary societ y may claim land right s under t he Joint Regulat ion, t he procedure t o acknowledge such right s is carried out based on Minist er of Int erior Af f airs Regulat ion No. 52 of 2014 on Guidelines f or t he Acknowledgment and Prot ect ion of Cust omary Law Societ ies.20
The 2014 Joint Regulat ion has been in f orce since 17 Oct ober 2014.
20
Art . 9, 2014 Joint Regulat ion. For m ore infor m at ion see I LB No. 2460
RECENTLY PUBLISHED ILB
• Prudential Principles in Managing Foreign Loans (Issue 2516 – 7/11/2014)
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• 109 Regulations on Land Matters Repealed (Issue 2513 – 4/11/2014) • Regulating the Optical Disc Industry (Issue 2512 – 3/11/2014)
RECENT REGULATION
• Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Regulation No. 45/PERMEN-KP/2014 on Operational Feasibility Certificate for Fishing Boats
• Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Regulation No. 41/PERMEN-KP/2014 on Prohibition on Import of Hazardous Fish
• Minister of Agriculture Regulation No. 107/Permentan/SR.140/9/2014 on Oversight of Pesticides
