Supreme Court overturns MEMR Regulation No 7/2012

By By Tri Subhki R

The Supreme Court overruled Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) Regulation No 7/2012 regarding mineral processing and refining after granting a lawsuit on behalf of Alias Wello, Director of PT Fajar Mentaya Abadi, a bauxite mining company in Riau Island province.

?The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation No 7/2012 is against the Law No 4/2009 regarding Mineral and Coal Mining. The Minister Regulation is not legitimate and not valid for public,? the Court?s statement said. The Court ordered the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resource to revoke the regulation.

The Court granted Wello?s lawsuit based on Law No 4/2009, which stipulates that raw mineral ores to be processed and refined domestically, effectively banning the export of mineral ores starting January 2014. However, Wello filed his case because the Minister Regulation imposed the processing and refining obligation three months after the enactment of the Regulation.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak