The Politics of Indigenous Territory Recognition in Indonesia: Reassessing the Fragmented Legal Architecture of Constitutional and Administrative Recognition

Abstract

Recognition of Indigenous territories in Indonesia is constitutionally guaranteed under Articles 18B paragraph (2) and 28I paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution. Effective implementation, however, remains constrained by fragmented administrative mechanisms operating across multiple sectoral legal regimes. Existing scholarship has largely examined constitutional recognition and administrative recognition separately, leaving their legal relationship and institutional interaction insufficiently explored. Using normative legal research with statutory, conceptual, and historical approaches, this article analyses constitutional provisions, legislation, Constitutional Court decisions, and implementing regulations while incorporating empirical evidence published by the Indigenous Territory Registration Agency (BRWA) to examine the implementation of indigenous territory recognition. The findings demonstrate that constitutional recognition establishes Indigenous Peoples as holders of constitutionally protected collective rights, whereas administrative recognition functions solely as the mechanism for implementing those rights. Empirical evidence further reveals a substantial disparity between the registration, verification, and certification of indigenous territories, indicating that constitutional recognition has not been accompanied by an integrated administrative recognition system. Legal fragmentation arises from the absence of institutional coordination, harmonised verification standards, and integrated legal consequences across sectoral governance regimes. This study proposes an integrated legal architecture that distinguishes constitutional recognition from administrative recognition while harmonising administrative implementation through coordinated verification and mutual administrative recognition across sectoral legal regimes, thereby strengthening legal certainty for indigenous territories in Indonesia.