Constitutional Court Affirms Mining Permits for Universities Must Not Erode Campus Independence

The Constitutional Court (MK) has affirmed that the involvement of universities in the scheme granting priority mining business permits (IUP) must not sacrifice campus independence or their primary functions as institutions of education, research, and community service. The affirmation was delivered by the MK as it partially granted a judicial review petition against Law Number 2 of 2025 concerning the Fourth Amendment to the Mineral and Coal Mining Law in Ruling Number 160/PUU-XXIII/2025, read out on Thursday (16/7). Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih explained that the 1945 Constitution does not prohibit universities from obtaining economic benefits to support the provision of education. However, this involvement must not turn campuses into mining business actors. According to the MK, the granting of priority to state-owned enterprises (BUMN), regionally-owned enterprises (BUMD), or private business entities for the benefit of universities must remain within the framework of supporting the implementation of the tridharma of higher education. “The involvement in question must remain within the framework of implementing the tridharma of higher education, namely to strengthen the mission of education, research, and community service, not in the form of direct involvement as a manager or running a mineral and coal business,” said Enny. The court assessed that if universities are directly involved as managers of mining businesses, campuses risk losing their strategic position as institutions that safeguard the nation’s morals and act as supervisors of development policies. “If directly involved as managers, universities will lose their strategic position as one of the important institutions safeguarding the nation’s morals in the development process,” Enny stated. The MK also reminded that the opportunity to gain benefits from the mining sector must not turn into a trap that weakens the academic function and environmental oversight that universities have been carrying out. “The opening of opportunities regulated in the a quo norms must not become a trap for universities that results in the paralysis of their control as one of the front lines in preserving environmental sustainability,” she stressed. The court acknowledged that universities need funding sources to optimally carry out their educational functions. However, this need must not become a reason for campuses to abandon the principle of academic independence or to become directly involved in managing mining businesses. This ruling also serves as an affirmation that every affirmative policy in granting IUP priority must remain based on the principles of objectivity, transparency, and accountability, and must not shift the primary function of universities as independent educational institutions.