Regulation Watch · Environmental Compliance · Indonesia. The regulation governs environmental civil-service investigators (PPNS LH) and applies when an environmental criminal investigation concerns a corporation or an individual. It is relevant to PT PMA and PT PMDN companies, foreign and Indonesian directors, functional officers, command-givers, controllers, beneficial owners, shareholders who exercise control, expatriate managers, site operators, property developers, hotels, villas, manufacturers, waste and wastewater businesses, contractors, transporters and other regulated operations.
Environmental Investigations Can Reach Directors and Beneficial Owners
Permen LH/BPLH 12/2026 replaces Indonesia's 2012 environmental-crime investigation guideline and expressly allows a corporate case to proceed against the company and its functional officers, command-givers, controllers or beneficial owners, supported by summons, searches, seizures, asset blocking and travel-prevention procedures.
- Published
- Established in Jakarta on 21 September 2026 and promulgated on 29 September 2026 in State Bulletin 2026 No. 677. The official KLH/BPLH JDIH record was created on 7 October 2026 and first recorded by Regulation Watch on 11 October 2026.
- Effective
- 29 September 2026, the date of promulgation specified by Article 83.
- Added to Watch
- 11 October 2026
Who is affected
Corporations and persons investigated for alleged environmental crimes; PT PMA and PT PMDN companies; foreign and Indonesian directors and functional officers; persons who give instructions, exercise control or qualify as beneficial owners; expatriate managers and witnesses; environmental, legal, compliance and site teams; and businesses whose licences, environmental approvals, waste, wastewater, emissions, sampling, monitoring, transport, construction or operational records may become evidence.
Practical impact
The regulation does not create a new environmental offence or a new penalty table. It replaces Permen LH 11/2012 with a detailed national procedure for moving from an environmental inspection report or caught-in-the-act event through preliminary inquiry, investigation and prosecution handover. Evidence can include environmental and licensing records, electronic data, remote-sensing information, samples, equipment and other connected property. In a corporate case, liability may be pursued against both the corporation and responsible persons: functional officers, command-givers, controllers or beneficial owners. A lawfully summoned corporate representative must attend; if the corporation does not appear or appoint a representative, investigators may select a responsible person and order that person brought in. Available coercive measures include suspect designation, arrest, detention, search, seizure, examination of correspondence, blocking of assets or accounts and a temporary prohibition on leaving Indonesia, subject to the regulation's evidentiary, court and police-coordination safeguards.
Permen LH/BPLH 12/2026 was established on 21 September, promulgated in State Bulletin 2026 No. 677 on 29 September and took effect that day. The Ministry's JDIH created its official record on 7 October. It revokes Permen LH 11/2012 and replaces the former environmental-crime investigation guideline with procedures aligned to the current criminal-procedure framework.
A case may begin from an environmental-supervision report or a caught-in-the-act event. During preliminary inquiry, PPNS LH may inspect the scene, gather environmental, licensing and electronic records, use monitoring or remote-sensing information, collect equipment and other connected objects, take samples and obtain witness or expert information. Environmental-standard testing must use an environmental laboratory, while other testing may use an accredited laboratory. Sampling must follow the applicable method, be performed by qualified personnel with PPNS LH or authorised-officer accompaniment and be recorded to protect the chain of custody.
If the case moves to formal investigation, the procedure covers summonses and examinations, coercive measures, searches for people and property, case-file delivery, transfer of the suspect and evidence and termination of the investigation. A summons to a witness or suspect must be received at least three working days before appearance. A second summons can involve assistance to bring the person in, while investigators may examine a person at their residence for a legitimate non-attendance reason or go directly to an avoiding witness or suspect's residence. Examinations must use Indonesian or a language the person understands, with a sworn interpreter for a person who cannot understand or speak Indonesian.
The corporate rules are explicit. Article 77 states that responsibility for a corporate environmental crime is imposed on the corporation and its responsible person. That responsible-person group includes a functional officer in the organisation, a person giving orders, a controller or a beneficial owner. The investigation notice records the company's deed and amendments, domicile, nationality, corporate type, activity and representative. The corporate examination is represented by a responsible person who must attend. If the corporation does not appear, refuses or fails to appoint a representative, PPNS LH may choose one responsible person and summon that person again with an order to be brought in.
The regulation operationalises coercive powers but does not itself add a new environmental offence or penalty scale. A suspect may be designated on at least two items of evidence. Available measures include arrest, detention, search, seizure, examination of correspondence, blocking and a temporary prohibition on leaving Indonesia. Search can extend to buildings, clothing, the body, transport, electronic information and documents. Urgent searches may precede court permission but require approval within 2 x 24 hours; urgent seizure of movable property requires court approval within five working days. Blocking normally requires court permission, may initially last one year and can be extended twice for six months.
Foreign nationals receive specific procedural treatment: suspect designation, arrest and detention must be notified to the person's national representative. The rule also permits a travel-prevention request during investigation, overseas examination under the applicable law and, where a twice-summoned suspect cannot be located, a wanted-person process and possible red-notice request if the suspect is abroad.
Companies should read this regulation together with Permen LH/BPLH 6/2026. The earlier regulation governs environmental supervision and administrative sanctions, while Permen LH/BPLH 12/2026 governs the criminal-investigation path when evidence indicates a possible offence. Closing licence, monitoring, sampling, waste, wastewater, emissions and corrective-action gaps therefore reduces both administrative and criminal escalation risk, but remedial action should be coordinated with evidence-preservation and legal-response duties once an incident or investigation exists.
Required action
- Update the environmental-incident and investigation-response plan so legal counsel, directors, the environmental responsible person, the site manager and the beneficial-ownership contact can be activated immediately after an inspection finding, incident, complaint, summons or evidence request.
- Maintain an inspection-ready evidence file containing the current deed and amendments, corporate domicile and nationality information, organisation chart, responsible-person and beneficial-owner records, NIB and sector licences, environmental approval, technical approvals, monitoring reports, laboratory results, waste manifests, maintenance records, incident logs and corrective-action evidence.
- Preserve physical and electronic evidence as soon as a potential incident arises. Suspend routine deletion for relevant email, messaging, CCTV, telemetry, remote-sensing data, laboratory files, permits, contracts and operational records, and document custody and access without altering or backdating materials.
- For environmental sampling, verify the method, qualified sampling personnel, laboratory status, recording and chain of custody; keep duplicate or retained samples and supporting field records where legally and technically appropriate.
- On receiving a summons, record the delivery time and scheduled appearance, verify the person and corporate capacity named, appoint counsel and an authorised representative, and attend or provide a legitimate documented reason. A summons to a witness or suspect must be received at least three working days before the stated appearance date.
- Do not obstruct access, conceal assets or records, influence witnesses, provide false information or destroy evidence. Those acts can support detention or urgent evidence-preservation measures and materially worsen the company's position.
- Foreign directors, managers, witnesses or suspects should keep passport, immigration and consular details current and obtain coordinated environmental-criminal and immigration advice promptly; the regulation requires consular notification for a foreign suspect's designation, arrest or detention and permits travel prevention during an investigation.
- Review contractual indemnities, environmental insurance and directors-and-officers coverage, while confirming that insurance or delegation does not remove personal exposure for a person who gives orders, controls the conduct or is treated as the responsible beneficial owner.