Constitutional Challenge to the Maritime Act: Government clarifies Bakamla's role does not overlap with investigators

The Government stresses that Bakamla’s role under the Maritime Act is to strengthen coordination, not to take over the powers of other law enforcement agencies. This is stated to ensure that violations at sea are handled without overlap.

The statement was delivered by government expert Arie Afriansyah during the continued hearing on the constitutional review of Law Number 32 of 2014 on Maritime Affairs at the Constitutional Court (MK), on Thursday (5 March). The case, number 180/PUU-XXIII/2025, is scheduled to hear expert testimony regarding the provisions challenged by the applicant, Lukman Ladjoni.

Arie explained that in the field, a single vessel can commit multiple offences simultaneously, ranging from navigation and customs to immigration, and other crimes. If each agency acts independently, he warned, there is potential for jurisdictional tug-of-war and duplicative investigations.