Legal Availability and Limits of Restorative Justice in Unlawful Sustainable Food Agricultural Land Conversion: A Complementarity Perspective

The unlawful conversion of Sustainable Food Agricultural Land (SFAL/LP2B) into commercial residential housing poses a critical legal problem, as retributive criminal justice fails to restore damaged land functions. While scholarship often views Restorative Justice (RJ) as a universal alternative, a research gap exists regarding its doctrinal limits in environmental-agrarian offenses. Utilizing normative legal methods, this study examines RJ under Law No. 41 of 2009, Law No. 6 of 2023, Perma No. 1 of 2024, and Perpol No. 8 of 2021. Findings demonstrate that RJ cannot be universally applied. Under the principle of complementarity, RJ functions strictly as a pre-litigation procedural tool available to vulnerable smallholder farmers, while commercial developers are categorically excluded and subject to formal prosecution under Article 72(1). Applying RJ to eligible smallholders strictly enforces mandatory statutory land restoration duties under Articles 55 and 73, safeguarding national food security.