Jakarta – Under the moniker Gerakan Rakyat Menggugat (GERAM) PSN, eight civil society organizations and a number of individuals impacted by strategic national projects or Proyek Strategis Nasional (PSN) have submitted an official application for a judicial review of Law No. 6/2023 on Enactment of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law on Job Creation into Law.
The application in question was submitted to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia on Friday, 4 July 2025. The filing specifically takes issue with articles in the Job Creation Law that provide legal legitimacy to the facilitation and acceleration of strategic national projects–which have proven to bring about environmental degradation, forced evictions, and criminalization of citizens. The application stresses that a number of provisions in the Job Creation Law contradict principles of law and protection of human rights guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution. In practice, PSN schemes have already become means for legitimizing violations of the law: projects such as Rempang Eco City, reclamation for Pantai Indah Kapuk 2, food estates in Papua, and development of the new state capital Nusantara (IKN) are disregarding land rights, rights to food and nutrition, public participation, and ecosystem sustainability.
Legally, the application tests the constitutionality of articles in the Job Creation Law that make "PSN" a special category for avoiding regulations deemed to "hinder", even in the context of protecting the environment and citizens. Their provisions are deemed to violate the principle of due process of law as they blur legal standards for environmental protection and remove the guarantee of the right to life space. The Constitutional Court is expected to play the role of protector of the Constitution and, at the same, protector of human rights and the environment.
Further, the applicants feel PSN schemes under the Job Creation law have reinforced the exploitative and elitist nature of development. The list of PSNs was prepared without meaningful public participation and was not subject to objective examination of public needs. Project acceleration has merely become an excuse for disregarding ecological precautionary principles, which should form a key basis in national development policy. These go against the 1945 Constitution, which emphasizes environmental protection and social justice as constitutional mainstays.
The application was submitted by a number of civil society organizations, namely the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), the Indonesian Forum for Environment (WALHI), the Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM), Trend Asia, Pantau Gambut, Yayasan Auriga Nusantara, the Peoples' Coalition for Fisheries Justice (KIARA), and FIAN Indonesia. Applicants also include individuals directly affected by PSN projects in various regions of Indonesia, including communities from Rempang in Batam, Merauke in South Papua, Sepaku in IKN, and Konawe in Southeast Sulawesi. In addition to affected communities, one individual applicant is Dr Muhammad Busyro Muqoddas, an academic and Muhammadiyah Chair of Human Rights, Law, and Public Policy.
Through the submission, the applicants encourage the Constitutional Court to affirm that national development must not become a law- and human rights-free space. The State must defer to the constitutional principle that sovereignty lies in the hands of the people, and development must ensure ecological justice across the generations. This judicial review is expected to provide momentum for correcting the direction of development that marginalizes communities and sacrifices the environment in the name of investment and strategic projects.
Tim Hukum GERAM PSN