Reconstructing The Meaning Of “Certain Place” In Article 75 Paragraph (2) Letter D Of The Immigration Law: An Open Texture Clause Analysis As The Legal Basis For Detainee Empowerment

Abstract

Article 75 paragraph (2) letter d of Law Number 6 of 2011 on Immigration governs an immigration administrative action in the form of an obligation to reside in a certain place within Indonesian territory. Prevailing practice construes the phrase “certain place” narrowly as passive placement in Immigration Detention Centres, Immigration Detention Rooms, or Community Houses, producing prolonged detention that burdens the state budget while risking violations of detainees’ human rights. This study aims to analyse the open texture character of the phrase and to formulate the juridical limits of reconstructing its meaning as a legal basis for detainee empowerment. It employs normative legal research with statutory and conceptual approaches, analysed prescriptively and argumentatively through grammatical, systematic, and teleological interpretation. The findings show, first, that the phrase satisfies the character of an open texture clause: its core of certainty requires only a definitively designated location within Indonesian territory, whereas the type and function of that location fall within a penumbra open to interpretation, including government-designated productive areas. Second, such reconstruction constitutes lawful discretion insofar as it passes the three-aspect review of authority, complies with the General Principles of Good Governance, and respects external limits comprising voluntariness, humane treatment, fair remuneration, and detainees’ procedural rights. The study recommends normativising this productive interpretation into implementing regulations so that detainee empowerment gains a firm operational basis while contributing to the national food security agenda.