Legal Implications of Downstreaming on Land Rights Acquisition for Public Interest in Justice Based Industrialization
Published:
2026-07-25Abstract
Downstreaming as a national industrialization strategy has shifted the orientation of natural resource utilization from exporting raw materials to creating added value domestically. This policy encourages the development of industrial estates, smelters, and strategic infrastructure that require large-scale, integrated land availability. Consequently, significant changes in land function and control have arisen, raising legal issues related to land rights protection, legal certainty, and agrarian justice. This study aims to analyze the legal implications of downstreaming policies on land acquisition for the public interest within a justice-based industrialization framework. The method used is socio-legal research with a qualitative approach and prescriptive legal reasoning to examine the relationship between industrialization policies and land rights protection. The results show that expanding the definition of "public interest" through regulatory changes, particularly after the enactment of the Job Creation Law, has strengthened state legitimacy in land acquisition for downstreaming projects. These changes have accelerated the land acquisition process through consignment mechanisms, simplified permitting processes, and institutional support such as the Land Bank. However, this acceleration has the potential to weaken the bargaining position of communities and increase the risk of agrarian conflict and marginalization of vulnerable groups. Therefore, a harmonious, participatory, and substantive justice-oriented land law is needed to ensure that downstream-based industrialization remains in line with the principle of land rights protection.
Keywords:
Downstreaming, Land Acquisition, Public Interest, Agrarian Justice.References
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