From Idle Assets to Public Welfare: Legal Mechanisms for Integrating Abandoned Land into Agrarian Reform Policies

Abstract

Abandoned land constitutes an important yet underutilized component in agrarian reform, particularly in Indonesia where land inequality persists alongside ineffective utilization of land resources. Although the principle of the social function of land is recognized under Law No. 5 of 1960 on Basic Agrarian Principles (UUPA), its implementation through Government Regulation No. 11 of 2010 on Abandoned Land and its integration with agrarian reform under Presidential Regulation No. 86 of 2018 remain fragmented and lack normative clarity. This study examines the legal conceptualization of abandoned land and evaluates the adequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms in supporting agrarian reform objectives. Using a doctrinal legal method combined with a comparative approach, this study analyzes Indonesian land regulations alongside Brazil and South Africa to identify differences in the treatment of abandoned land within agrarian reform systems. The findings show that Indonesia faces legal ambiguity and weak institutional integration, while comparative jurisdictions demonstrate stronger alignment between land non-use and redistributive state intervention. The study concludes that a shift toward function-based land governance is necessary, where abandoned land is systematically integrated into agrarian reform through clearer legal standards and stronger institutional mechanisms such as land banking.