Ketahanan Pangan Versus Kepastian Berusaha: Problematika Yuridis Sentralisasi Kewenangan Lahan Sawah Dilindungi Pasca Peraturan Presiden Nomor 4 Tahun 2026 terhadap Iklim Investasi di Indonesia

Abstract

Presidential Regulation Number 4 of 2026 reforms the governance of Protected Paddy Fields (Lahan Sawah Dilindungi-LSD) by centralizing the authority for determining and controlling land-use conversion under the central government, introducing a recommendation procedure administered by the Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN), and establishing an incentive scheme to support the target of designating 87 percent of Registered Paddy Fields (Lahan Baku Sawah-LBS) as Sustainable Food Agricultural Land (Lahan Pertanian Pangan Berkelanjutan-LP2B). This study aims to analyze the legal position of investors following the enactment of Presidential Regulation Number 4 of 2026, examine its conformity with the principles of legal certainty, justice, and expediency under Gustav Radbruch’s legal theory, as well as the constitutional guarantee of land rights under the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, and identify regulatory gaps affecting legal certainty for business activities as the novelty of this research. The study employs a normative juridical method using statutory, conceptual, case, and comparative law approaches through the analysis of national legislation, legal doctrines, judicial decisions, legal literature, and farmland protection practices in China and Japan. The findings identify four normative issues: the absence of clear criteria and time limits for granting recommendations on land-use conversion, incentives that are not guaranteed because they depend on the state's financial capacity, transitional provisions that may undermine investors’ legitimate expectations, and the absence of an objection procedure for rights holders prior to the final designation of the LSD map. These findings show that the centralization of authority under Presidential Regulation Number 4 of 2026 has not yet fully ensured legal certainty for investors, despite its objective of strengthening national food security. This article recommends adopting a national clustering approach, refining implementing regulations, guaranteeing incentive mechanisms, and strengthening field verification and public participation to balance food security objectives with legal certainty for investment.