Coastal Conflicts and Access to Justice: An Analysis of Traditional Maritime Disputes in Karimun Regency Riau Islands

Abstrak

Coastal areas represent critical socio-ecological systems that are increasingly threatened by extractive industries and overlapping regulatory regimes. This study investigates coastal conflicts in Perayun Village, Karimun Regency, Indonesia, with a focus on how traditional fishing communities access justice in the face of resource exploitation and regulatory fragmentation. The research problem arises from the weak formal recognition of traditional fishing rights and the persistent tension between state law, local customary law, and economic interests. Using a juridical-empirical approach, the study combines normative legal analysis with field data collected through semi-structured interviews with local fishers, customary leaders, and government officials, supported by secondary sources such as legal documents, and media publications. The theoretical framework integrates legal pluralism and environmental justice to examine the coexistence of multiple legal orders and the distributional inequities in resource governance. Findings reveal that customary institutions play a central role in regulating fishing zones, resolving disputes, and maintaining social cohesion. While these mechanisms provide accessible and context-sensitive justice, they remain vulnerable when disputes involve external actors who do not recognize customary legitimacy. Structural barriers, including geographical isolation, fragmented intergovernmental coordination, and limited transparency, further undermine access to formal justice. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating how legal pluralism and environmental justice intersect in coastal governance, highlighting both the resilience and precarity of traditional communities. Practically, it calls for responsive policies that strengthen local institutions, ensure participatory decision-making, and formally recognize traditional fishing rights as an essential step toward achieving socio-ecological justice in Indonesia’s coastal regions.