Constitutional Court Decision
The Constitutional Court has returned the authority to determine
mining areas from the central government to local governments,
mostly to the regencies.
The Court accepted a challenge by the Regent of East Kutai
against provisions of the 2009 Mining Law which required the
central government to merely "consult" with regencies
over proposed mining areas. The Court found this to be
unconstitutional and against the concept of regional autonomy, and
declared that the authority to "determine" mining areas
should rest with the regencies.
Background
Commencing in 1999, Indonesia enacted a series of laws
concerning regional autonomy. The rationale behind regional
autonomy was for certain legislative and fiscal powers to be
granted to the provinces and regencies, and for the provinces and
regencies to obtain a larger slice of revenue from their local
resources, among other things.
