Coal Mining Governance in Indonesia Legal Uncertainty and Contestation

Coal production and coal export are important elements of the Indonesian economy, but mining operations are frequently plagued by conflicts among companies or between companies and local communities. In this article, we consider the role law plays in these conflicts and argue that it is, in fact, a factor that causes conflict. This is because mining governance rests with different levels and institutions of government, which has divided and delegated government authority and efficiency, and because revisions of relevant laws fail to take this complexity into account. Coal mining governance is therefore hampered by the inconsistency, ambiguity and incompleteness of the law, causing legal uncertainty for the stakeholders. Making use of cases encountered during research in the province of East Kalimantan, a major coal-producing area, we discuss the causes and consequences of the current state of coal mining legislation.