Land Acquisition for Public Interest: What Constitutes the Public Interest and Which Legal Safeguards Ensure Substantive Justice?

Abstract

The redefinition of the public interest under the land acquisition regime following Law Number 6 of 2023 has strengthened the legality of development while simultaneously blurring the boundary between the public interest and state-facilitated economic interests. This issue has become increasingly significant because the formal legitimacy of land acquisition has not been fully accompanied by mechanisms that ensure substantive justice and the protection of land rights. This research aims to analyze the transformation of the conception of the public interest in Indonesian land acquisition law and to reconstruct a legal protection model capable of balancing development objectives with the constitutional rights of citizens. This research employs normative legal research using statutory, historical, and conceptual approaches. The findings demonstrate that, first, the historical evolution of land acquisition regulation reflects a shift from a constitutional rights-oriented framework towards development legality, a legal configuration that broadens the meaning of the public interest to accelerate development while strengthening state capacity. Second, this research proposes a model of substantive public-interest safeguards comprising a prima facie public-interest test, proportionality review, meaningful participation, comprehensive compensation, accountable land-bank governance, and effective judicial control to ensure that the legality of land acquisition also complies with the principles of proportionality, accountability, legal certainty, and substantive justice.

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