Decentralisation in Regional Governance Law: The Paradox and Non-Functionality of Indigenous Rights and Environmental Protection in Indonesia
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Decentralisation in Indonesia is designed to enhance regional autonomy, recognise indigenous communities, and strengthen environmental protection. In practice, however, decentralisation produces a structural paradox whereby regulatory fragmentation, overlapping authorities, and investment-driven governance facilitate extractive industrial expansion, undermine indigenous land rights, and accelerate environmental degradation. This study critically examines how the legal design and implementation of decentralisation generate non-functionality in safeguarding indigenous rights and environmental sustainability within regional governance. Employing a normative juridical approach with a prescriptive-analytical character, the research analyses constitutional provisions, statutory regulations, judicial decisions, and legal doctrines related to decentralisation, indigenous rights, and environmental protection. Qualitative analysis is conducted through systematic, historical, and teleological legal interpretation, complemented by comparative assessment of recognised international standards. The findings reveal that Indonesia’s decentralisation framework remains ineffective due to fragmented and inconsistent normative structures, weak regional institutional capacity, and the absence of enforceable mechanisms for rights restoration and environmental accountability
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7118532012