Legal Protection of Ulayat Rights: Contextualization and Policies

Abstract

The constitution has mandated that the existence of customary law communities and their rights as long as they live still be recognized and respected. This was supported by various national and sectoral laws and regulations which also recognized and respected the customary rights of indigenous peoples, but in its implementation customary land conflicts continue to occur. From the legal aspect, this condition occurs because there is no legal umbrella to protect the existence of customary law communities at the regional level. This research was conducted to protecting of ulayat lands of customary communities with doctrinal legal research methods. The results of this study show that First, regional authority in protecting indigenous peoples is obtained from two legal regimes, the regional government legal regime in Law No. 23 of 2014 concerning Regional Government and sectoral legal regimes in the fields of land, forestry and human rights. Second, the contextualization of legal protection of ulayat land rights for customary law communities by local governments can be done by establishing a Regional Regulation as a Legal Policy, so that local governments are advised to immediately form regulations that contain and protect customary land rights for customary law community.