Constitutional Court: Number of Victims Main Indicator for Determining National Disaster Status
The Constitutional Court (MK) has stated that the number of victims must be the main indicator in determining national and regional disaster status.
This is contained in Constitutional Court Decision Number: 261/PUU-XXIII/2025, which reviewed the constitutionality of the norms in Article 7 paragraphs (2) and (3) of Law Number 24 of 2007 concerning Disaster Management.
“Granting the Petitioners’ request in part,” said Chief Justice Suhartoyo when reading the verdict at the Constitutional Court building in Jakarta on Friday (28/8).
In the decision, the Court also reduced the indicator requirements for determining disaster status to three indicators, from the original five indicators.
These indicators are the number of victims, property losses, damage to infrastructure and facilities, the extent of the area affected by the disaster, and/or the socio-economic impact caused.
“In determining the status and level of national and regional disasters, it is based on the fulfilment of at least three indicators, with the number of victims placed as the main indicator that must be met,” the Court stated.
In its considerations, the Court assessed that requiring all five indicators could hinder and slow down early determination and disaster handling during the emergency response phase. This is because this phase is the most critical and concerns the safety of human lives.
The determination of three indicators, the Court explained, is intended to encourage the central government to be immediately present in disaster handling.
“If a disaster meets three national disaster indicators as referred to in the norm of Article 7 paragraph (2) of Law Number 24 of 2007, then the central government must immediately designate it as a national disaster and take over responsibility for its handling from the regional government,” said Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih.
Furthermore, the Court emphasised that national disaster status is not determined solely based on the extent of the affected area.
A disaster occurring in a relatively small area can still be designated as a national disaster if the accumulated impact is significant and requires the central government to take a primary role in its handling.
The petitioners in this judicial review consisted of five advocates named Doris Manggalang Raja Sagala, Jonswaris Sinaga, Robinar V.K. Panggabean, Amudin Laia, and Roy Sitompul.
The lawsuit was filed after an ecological disaster occurred on the island of Sumatra in late 2025.
The lawsuit was filed because the Petitioners viewed that there was a legal vacuum (rechtsvacuum) in the implementation of the Disaster Management Law, where the absence of rules governing clear and detailed indicators in classifying a disaster as national or regional had created legal uncertainty for citizens.
The Petitioners requested that the legal norms governing the indicators for determining the status and level of national and regional disasters be immediately issued by the government in the form of a Government Regulation and its derivative rules.