PROFESSIONAL RISKS OF LAND DEED OFFICIALS IN MULTILAYERED ZONES: A COMPARISON OF LAND LAW FRAMEWORKS IN THE BATAM FREE TRADE ZONE AND FREE PORT AND ISKANDAR MALAYSIA

Abstract

The designation of an area as a special economic zone is generally understood to facilitate investment. This study examines that assumption from a rarely explored perspective: its consequences for deed-preparing officials. This normative legal study compares land law frameworks in the Batam Free Trade Zone and Free Port and Iskandar Malaysia using comparative, statutory, and conceptual approaches. It measures each zone-specific regime’s departure from its underlying land law across nine equivalent aspects. Iskandar departs from Johor State law in two of nine aspects, neither affecting legal relationships concerning land. Batam departs in five of nine aspects, all affecting those relationships and their governing institutions. This creates a distinctive professional risk for Land Deed Officials: deed validity depends on Management Right utilisation approval documents whose issuance standards lie beyond the profession’s control. A negative land registration system compounds this risk by providing no indefeasibility after registration, unlike the Torrens system, which ends that risk. The study concludes that institutional coordination reform concerns not only ease of doing business but also professional protection. It proposes four mitigation measures that preserve the nationality principle in Indonesian land law.