THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST ILLEGAL MINING OF CATEGORY C MINERALS WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE BALI REGIONAL POLICE

Abstract

Illegal mining of Category C minerals, commonly known in Indonesia as "galian C" and comprising non-metal minerals and rocks such as sand, gravel, andesite, and building stone, remains a persistent problem in Bali despite the province's dependence on ecological integrity for its tourism-based economy. This article examines the effectiveness of law enforcement against unlicensed Category C mining within the jurisdiction of the Bali Regional Police (Polda Bali), against the backdrop of Law Number 3 of 2020 on the Second Amendment to the Mineral and Coal Mining Law, Bali Provincial Regulation Number 4 of 2017 on Non-Metal Mineral and Rock Mining, and the environmental protection provisions of Law Number 32 of 2009. Using a normative-empirical (socio-legal) method supported by documentary analysis of statutory provisions, official police disclosures, and reported enforcement cases in Klungkung and Karangasem regencies, this study applies Soerjono Soekanto's five-factor framework for measuring the effectiveness of law enforcement: the legal substance itself, the law enforcement apparatus, supporting facilities and infrastructure, the community, and legal culture. The findings indicate that although the substantive legal framework criminalising unlicensed mining is comparatively robust, its enforcement in Bali is substantially weakened by the 2020 centralisation of mining licensing authority to the central government, which produced a licensing vacuum affecting dozens of previously operating businesses; by limited investigative capacity and technical equipment specific to environmental and mining crime within Polda Bali's Directorate of Special Criminal Investigation; by continuing economic dependence of local communities on quarrying for livelihood and on its output for cheap construction material; and by weak inter-agency coordination between the police, the Bali Provincial Energy and Mineral Resources Office, and customary village (desa adat) institutions. The article concludes that improving enforcement effectiveness requires simplifying and accelerating central licensing processes for small-scale rock quarrying, strengthening specialised investigative capacity within Polda Bali, and integrating customary environmental norms with formal law enforcement mechanisms.