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oincidently or intentionally, on the 80th anniversary of Sumpah Pemuda (The Youth Pledge Day) on Oct. 28, 2008, the House of Representatives (DPR) passed a new bill concerning the national territory (wilayah negara). Interestingly, the popularity of the new law was beaten by the anti-pornography law that was passed slightly earlier.

People's attention was excessively sucked by the so-called controversial law of anti-pornography. Consequently, the content of the national territory law might not have been well disseminated.

Apart from the lack of information dissemination, the law on national territory can be seen as an important achievement in Indonesia. Since its independence in 1945, Indonesia has not yet enacted a law specifically governing its national territory. Similar law was enacted in 1960 and 1996 concerning the Indonesian waters, but not land territory.

Meanwhile, the 1945 Constitution specifies that national territory should be governed by a specific law (Article 25A). Thus, the adoption of the law concerning national territory is a breakthrough. Now that the law is 1 year old, what has been done so far?

The 2008 Law on National Territory comprehensively explains the basic principle and definition of terms related to territory and international land and maritime boundaries. It states that national territory covers all land areas, internal waters, archipelagic waters and territorial sea, which extends up to 12 nautical miles from the baseline (coastline).

The law also explains the definition of territory (sovereignty) and the definition of jurisdiction (sovereign rights). Article 1 of the law consists of 13 paragraphs from which people can learn basic important definitions of, for example, territory, maritime zones, territorial boundaries, jurisdictional boundaries, border areas, central government, local government, border management agency etc.

When dealing with national territory, the law also deals with multilateral boundaries. Article 5 of the law states that territorial boundaries (land, maritime and airspace) are established by relevant bilateral/trilateral agreements. In some areas, the outer limits of Indonesia's territory are represented by agreed lines between Indonesia and its neighbors.

In the Strait of Malacca, for example, Indonesia's territory is limited by the agreed maritime boundaries between Indonesia and Malaysia signed on March 17, 1970. Similarly, in the Singapore Strait, the limit of Indonesia's territory is partially the line delimiting territorial sea between Indonesia and Singapore, signed on May 25, 1973 (eastern segment), and March 10, 2009 (western segment).

To date, Indonesia has yet to complete territorial sea boundaries with some neighbors. Indonesia has pending territorial sea boundaries with Singapore; with Timor Leste in the Ombai Strait, Wetar Strait and Timor Sea; and with Malaysia in the Sulawesi Sea. However, a process of delimitation is being undertaken through a series of negotiations involving geospatial/technical, legal and political aspects.

In addition, EEZ and/or continental shelf boundaries with India, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Palau and Timor Leste also need to be delimitated. Once a new treaty has been achieved, this will serve as the outer limits of Indonesia's territory pursuant to the law of national territory. In this regard, the new law treats international treaties concerning territorial boundaries as its integral part.

Another important provision in the national territory law is the establishment of a Border Management Agency for central and local government (Article 14). The agency is to be established within six months after the enactment of the law (Article 25). Its responsibilities include the definition of policy concerning development programs in border areas; budgeting; operational coordination; and monitoring and evaluation (Article 15).

The formation of the agency aims to accelerate and facilitate development in border areas, especially land border areas. It seems the government (central and local) is still working on a robust design/plan for the agency. Now the six-month deadline has passed, but the agency has yet to be established. It is worth noting that we have not managed to comply with the law in establishing such an important agency.

The promulgation of new law concerning national territory is an important achievement in Indonesia. With this new law, Indonesia's territory and jurisdictions, which were mentioned in the youth pledge, 81 years ago, now have stronger legal and spatial bases, which in turn can facilitate the process of boundary establishment, security maintenance and resource management.

The formation of the Border Management Agency is one of the critical components of this law, since certainty of national territory is not the end of the story.

However, one year after the birth of the law on national territory, the agency has not been established yet. It seems there are either political or technical obstacles blocking its formation. No matter how hard it is, the establishment of the agency needs to be accelerated. This will lead the way to a better border management and well-developed border areas.