Background
Indonesia's investment-arbitration profile is dominated by the mining sector, with the Newmont, Churchill Mining, and Indian Metals matters establishing the doctrinal benchmarks.
Mining cases
The Newmont arbitration (settled) and the Churchill Mining matter (dismissed for forged documents) both turned on the revocation of mining concessions. The Churchill matter became a benchmark on the threshold of tribunal scrutiny of corruption and forgery defences raised by host states.
Export bans
Indonesia's 2020 nickel export ban — and subsequent rules on downstream processing requirements — sit at the centre of the current dispute pipeline. The measures interact with WTO obligations and bilateral treaty protections, generating overlapping fora for disputes. See our resource nationalism analysis.
Treaty network
Indonesia terminated its older BITs with the Netherlands and several other partners in 2014–2016. Newer treaties — including the Indonesia-Singapore BIT and the Indonesia-Australia CEPA investment chapter — have narrower protections but continue to provide ISDS access.
Outlook
Indonesia's mining-and-minerals-policy direction suggests continued dispute generation, particularly as battery-supply-chain investors face evolving downstream-processing rules.