Environmental Law Enforcement in the Citarum River Pollution Case: Lessons from the UK and India
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The Citarum River is a strategic resource for millions of West Java residents, supporting household, agricultural, fishery, and industrial needs. However, heavy pollution from industrial, agricultural, and domestic waste causes ecological damage and threatens the community's fundamental rights to health, clean water, and a healthy environment. This background underlies the importance of studying environmental law enforcement in the Citarum River Basin, considering the close relationship between human rights perspectives and criminal law provisions. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of environmental law enforcement in Indonesia, specifically in the Citarum pollution case, and compare it with the experience of the United Kingdom in the Thames River case and India in the Ganges River case. The method used is a juridical-normative approach with a comparative approach, through a review of legislation, court decisions, and national and international academic literature. The results show that environmental law enforcement in Indonesia still tends to be administrative and civil, thus not providing an adequate deterrent effect for polluters. In contrast, the United Kingdom has succeeded in strengthening compliance through strict criminal sanctions, while India emphasizes pollution as a violation of citizens' constitutional rights. The conclusion of this study is the need for an integrative model that combines criminal liability with human rights protection, so that environmental law enforcement in Indonesia can be more effective, fair, and sustainable, particularly in efforts to restore the Citarum River.
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