Alienating the 'Private' Sector: Implications of the Invalidation of the Water Law by the Indonesian Constitutional Court

Sunday, September 12, 2021

Journal of Water Law 26/3 (2019)

In 2015, the Indonesian Constitutional Court invalidated Law no 7 Year 2004 on Water Resources. At the heart of the Judicial Review was the extent of private sector’s involvement in Indonesia’s water sector and the effort to regain “state control” on water resources, as required by the Constitution. In order to realize “state control”, the Constitutional Court decreed that state owned and region owned enterprises should be prioritized in the management of water resources. Further, involvement of private enterprise should be restricted and is only possible after water is allocated to other priorities. Unfortunately the Court did not define what is meant by “private sector”. This paper criticized the decision and discuss its far reaching implications.

Keywords: water, law, indonesia, privatization, constitution, private, constitution, policy

Download