Illegal mining in Indonesia: need for robust legislation and enforcement

Abstract

Indonesia’s mineral and coal mining sector has significant economic potential to generate tax income for the state. Recently, the mining industry has reached the exploration limit set by governments. However, unlawful mining has been reported in certain areas of Indonesia. Secondary and qualitative informant interviews were conducted for this purpose. This article examines the existing mining legislation and measures adopted by law enforcement to uphold mining protection. This article asserts that current mining legislation fails to sufficiently safeguard against illegal mining activities. Furthermore, the enforcement of laws against illegal mining is divided among various entities. Environmental degradation continues, and the goal of achieving ecological justice remains unfulfilled. Therefore, to attain ecological justice, collaboration among the entities of the criminal justice system, including the police, prosecutors, and related agencies is crucial.

Keywords

• Illegal mining
• criminal law enforcement
• environmental damage
• Indonesia
• Heng Choon (Oliver) Chan, Department of Social Policy, Sociology, and Criminology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
• Criminology–Law