LITIGATING CROSS-BORDER ENVIRONMENTAL DISPUTE IN INDONESIAN CIVIL COURT: THE MONTARA CASE

Abstract

In August 2009, a wellhead blowout of took place at an offshore drilling facility named the Montara platform, on the north coast of Australia. This incident releases crude oil into the sea and continued until November 2009. The Montara platform owned by PTTEP Australasia Pty. Ltd., a company incorporated under the laws of Australia, and is a subsidiary of PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited, a Thailand based, state-owned oil company. Based on samples taken by the East Nusa Tenggara Municipality in the waters along the coast Kolbano, Desa Tuafanu, District Kualin, South Central Timor, it was found that the sea water has been polluted with crude oil. There was an indication that the crude oil is identical to those of at the Montara well head platform. This incident has been detrimental to at least 9.000 fishermen and seaweed farmers along the coast of West Timor Sea, with total losses estimated at USD2.4 billion. This article examines the possibility of a lawsuit brought by the affected communities to the Indonesian civil court. This article finds that that filing a lawsuit against PTTEP AA, the operator of the Montara Platform, may be possible. Article 100 RV of the Indonesian civil procedure provide an opportunity to sue foreign entity when contractual relationship exist. This article seeks to map the possible parties involved in the dispute should the victims decide to bring this case to Indonesian civil court. It aims at assisting the victims in preparing their case and obtaining the best possible outcome for remedy.

Keywords

• transboundary dispute
• corporate civil liability
• civil court