CRIMINAL POLICY ON ILLEGAL LOGGING IN INDONESIA IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE JOB CREATION LAW: A REFORMULATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT
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Illegal Logging, Criminal Policy, Job Creation Law, Ultimum Remedium, Environmental Criminal Law
Abstract
Illegal logging remains one of the most damaging environmental crimes in Indonesia, and the enactment of Law Number 11 of 2020 on Job Creation, together with its perpetua form under Law Number 6 of 2023, has substantially reshaped the criminal-policy landscape governing Law Number 18 of 2013 on the Prevention and Eradication of Forest Destruction (P3H Law). This study aims to examine the reformulation of illegal-logging criminal policy after the Job Creation Law and to evaluate its coherence with the constitutional obligation to protect the environment. The research employs a doctrinal legal method, combining statutory, conceptual, and case-based approaches, supported by content analysis of P3H Law provisions amended by the Job Creation Law and by policy documents issued between 2020 and 2026. The findings show that the amendments have narrowed the operational reach of several core offences, shifted a significant portion of enforcement toward administrative sanctions, and introduced ambiguities that weaken the deterrent function of criminal law, particularly for corporate offenders operating in Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Papua. The study concludes that the current formulation reflects an incomplete transition from a punitive to a restorative model, and that a hybrid accountable-restorative framework, complemented by strict corporate liability, is required to restore proportionality. The academic contribution lies in offering an integrated formulative-applicative-executive matrix that scholars, legislators, and enforcement agencies can use to reconstruct environmental criminal policy in the post-Job-Creation-Law era.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Aria Zurneti, Yudha Febri Fernando, Muhammad Tahir Yahya
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