UNITY OF KNOWLEDGE: INTEGRATING PHILOSOPHY, LEGAL THEORY, AND LEGAL POLICY IN RECONSTRUCTING THE LEGAL PROTECTION FRAMEWORK FOR INDONESIAN SEAFARERS
UNITY OF KNOWLEDGE: INTEGRATING PHILOSOPHY, LEGAL THEORY, AND LEGAL POLICY IN RECONSTRUCTING THE LEGAL PROTECTION FRAMEWORK FOR INDONESIAN SEAFARERS

Summary/Abstract: The legal status of Indonesian seafarers has become a significant issue within the national regulatory framework, particularly following the enactment of Law No. 18 of 2017 concerning the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, which categorizes seafarers as migrant workers. This classification raises serious normative concerns because it does not accurately reflect the unique characteristics of maritime employment and may contradict international legal standards governing seafarers. Under international law, seafarers are recognized as a distinct category of maritime workers regulated by specialized legal instruments, including the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006, the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) 1978, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982. Moreover, the ILO Migration for Employment Convention (C097) explicitly excludes seafarers from the definition of migrant workers. This research aims to analyze the normative inconsistency arising from the classification of seafarers as migrant workers within Indonesian law and to propose a reconstruction of the legal protection framework for Indonesian seafarers. The study employs a normative juridical research method supported by statutory, conceptual, comparative, and philosophical approaches. The analysis is conducted using the Unity of Knowledge framework, which integrates philosophy of science, legal philosophy, legal theory, and legal policy to examine the coherence of legal norms governing maritime labour. The findings reveal that the inclusion of seafarers within the migrant worker regime creates legal ambiguity and regulatory overlap within Indonesia's maritime governance system. Therefore, this study proposes a reconstruction of Indonesia's legal protection policy by recognizing seafarers as maritime workers governed under a specialized maritime labour regime aligned with international maritime law.

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