After proclaiming independence in 1945, Indonesia faced a complex geographical and legal problem. The country consisted of thousands of islands separated by seas that, under prevailing international law, were treated largely as high seas.
This meant that foreign vessels could legally pass between Indonesian islands without restriction, undermining national unity, security, and control over marine resources.
By the mid-1950s, Indonesian leaders recognized that political independence would remain incomplete without a coherent maritime doctrine that reflected the country’s archipelagic reality.
It was within this context that Prime Minister Djuanda Kartawidjaja emerged as a decisive figure in reshaping maritime law.
The Djuanda Declaration
On 13 December 1957, Prime Minister Djuanda announced what became known as the Djuanda Declaration. This statement asserted that Indonesia was an archipelagic state whose land and sea formed a single, inseparable unit.
Rather than treating the waters between islands as international waters, the declaration proclaimed them as integral parts of Indonesian territory.
The declaration also introduced the use of straight baselines drawn from the outermost points of the outer islands, enclosing the archipelago as a whole.
This was a bold departure from the dominant legal framework of the time, which generally limited territorial seas to a narrow belt extending from individual coastlines.
Djuanda’s declaration expanded Indonesia’s territorial sea to 12 nautical miles and, more importantly, redefined how maritime space could be understood for archipelagic nations.
The Archipelagic State Principle
At the heart of the Djuanda Declaration was the archipelagic state principle. This concept held that a state composed wholly or mainly of islands should be treated as a single geographical, political, and legal entity.
The waters enclosed by straight baselines connecting the outermost islands were to be regarded as internal waters, subject to full sovereignty.
This principle was revolutionary because it challenged the land-centric bias of traditional international law. It emphasized geographical reality over abstract legal categories and argued that seas could unite rather than divide a nation.
For Indonesia, the principle reinforced national integration by ensuring that sea lanes between islands were under Indonesian jurisdiction, supporting defense, administration, and economic planning.
From National Doctrine to International Debate
Initially, the Djuanda Declaration faced resistance from maritime powers that feared restrictions on navigation and access to sea lanes. However, Indonesia consistently defended its position in international forums, particularly at the United Nations Conferences on the Law of the Sea.
Over time, the logic of the archipelagic state principle gained wider acceptance, especially among other island and archipelagic nations that shared similar concerns.
Djuanda’s vision thus transcended Indonesia’s national interests. By articulating a coherent and principled argument, Indonesia helped international law evolve to better accommodate diverse geographical realities.
The eventual recognition of archipelagic states in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea marked a significant validation of the ideas first articulated in 1957.
Evolution to EEZ
While the Djuanda Declaration did not explicitly introduce the Exclusive Economic Zone, it laid essential groundwork for its emergence.
The EEZ concept, which grants coastal states sovereign rights over natural resources within 200 nautical miles of their baselines, depends fundamentally on how those baselines are drawn.
By legitimizing straight archipelagic baselines, the Djuanda Declaration expanded the maritime zones from which resource rights could later be measured.
In this sense, Djuanda’s contribution was instrumental rather than direct. Without the acceptance of archipelagic baselines, archipelagic states like Indonesia would have faced severe limitations in claiming extensive EEZs.
The declaration thus helped ensure that vast marine areas rich in fisheries, energy resources, and minerals could fall under national jurisdiction, supporting economic development and environmental stewardship.
Kartawdijaja’s Enduring Legacy
Djuanda Kartawidjaja’s legacy lies in his ability to transform Indonesia’s geographical vulnerability into a legal and strategic advantage.
By asserting the archipelagic state principle, he reshaped how sovereignty, territory, and maritime space could be understood in international law.
This intellectual and diplomatic achievement paved the way for later developments, including the formalization of the EEZ regime.
Today, the EEZ is a cornerstone of global maritime governance, balancing the rights of coastal states with the freedoms of the high seas.
Its viability for archipelagic nations owes much to the principles first articulated in the Djuanda Declaration. More than six decades later, Djuanda’s vision continues to influence how states manage and protect the oceans that surround them.
