Legal Analysis of Agrarian Conflict Resolution and the Settlement of Customary (Ulayat) Land Disputes in Indonesia

Abstract

Agrarian conflicts in Indonesia recur continually and largely stem from overlaps between the ulayat land claims of indigenous law communities and land rights issued by the state. This study analyzes the legal framework for the recognition of ulayat land and the normative feasibility of its dispute settlement routes, whether through land mediation, customary deliberation, or the courts. It is normative legal research using statute and conceptual approaches and a literature review of cases reported by other researchers, analyzed qualitatively and prescriptively through systematic and teleological interpretation of Article 18B paragraph (2) and Article 28I paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution, the UUPA, Constitutional Court Decision Number 35/PUU-X/2012, Permen ATR/BPN Number 21 of 2020 and Number 14 of 2024, and recent scholarly literature. The findings show that (1) normative recognition of ulayat rights exists but is conditional and sectoral, which opens the way to overlapping permits; (2) Permen ATR/BPN 14/2024 improves certainty through entry in the Ulayat Land Register and the Right of Management option, but requires ulayat land to be dispute-free without connecting this to a dispute settlement mechanism, and leaves a risk that communal rights will shift into individual rights; and (3) according to the studies reviewed, land mediation and customary deliberation have a chance of being effective if the good faith of the parties, mediator capacity, and the binding force of agreements are assured. The study proposes a tiered settlement model, normative and not yet tested in the field, that integrates customary deliberation, land mediation, and judicial review, together with the harmonization of sectoral regulations and the use of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) as a normative standard.