The Handling of Cases of Forest Fire Using the Model of Progressive Interpretation of Law

The ruling of Palembang District Court that released PT Bumi Mekar Hijau on the case of forest fire surprised many groups. From the law and legislation perspective, the government has no comprehensive effort of law enforcement. Moreover, there are norm conflicts between Law No. 32 of 2009 on Environmental Protection and Management serving as the "umbrella law" and other laws, such as Law No. 19 of 1999 on Forestry. The license to clear forest by means of burning governed by the Environmental Management and Protection Law is supposed to accommodate local wisdom, particularly "Simboer Tjahaya", the local regulation prevailing in Palembang. However, its implementation triggers regular fire in many areas. Obviously, this condition proves the powerlessness of law. Hence, as a mean of "social engineering" laws are expected to be capable of resolving those problems. Using the legislation approach, the purpose of the present study was to seek the ways to prevent and resolve the issue of forest fire by means of the model of progressive legal interpretation