Home - Muhammad Bahrul Ulum

Biography

I am a PhD Candidate at Queensland University of Technology who worked in the NGO and university sectors. After working as an assistant public lawyer at the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Surabaya, I spent seven years as a university lecturer and one year as a legal drafter for the standard of norms and settings at Indonesia’s National Human Rights Commission. I was also a researcher at the Centre for Human Rights, Multiculturalism, and Migration (University of Jember), with research interests in constitutionalism and rights-based instruments.

My visiting research at Nagoya University as well as earlier works on agricultural and food regulations motivated me to pursue PhD at QUT. Throughout my PhD research, I investigate how the Indonesian government’s decision-making on agricultural land use can empower small-scale farmers to retain access to land resources for their livelihoods and assess to what extent its framework can realise the right to food. This thesis allows me to understand the underlying barriers to agricultural land use change in Indonesia on the right to adequate food and how the current framework needs to be reformed to realise better food policies with a human rights approach.

I delivered presentations at conferences held by Indonesian Constitutional Court, University of Sydney, University of Indonesia, Vietnam National University, Chulalongkorn University, and National University of Singapore. I have also published articles in peer-reviewed journals and served as a reviewer in some journals published by Oxford, Sage, and Elsevier.

I was among the expert members in researching and drafting the human rights standards for the right to adequate housing, part of the Indonesia National Commission of Human Rights initiatives. This document has become the national guideline for policymakers and decision-makers on housing in Indonesia.

You may read my selected papers.

CURRENT RESEARCH
EDUCATION
SCHOLARSHIPS & AWARDS
CONTACT

What’s my doctoral research?

Research Title: Indonesia’s agricultural land use decision-making and the right to food.

Summary: This research critically examines how the Indonesian government’s decision-making on agricultural land use can promote the right to adequate food. I argue that the agricultural land-use framework incorporating the right to food enables the government to empower small farmers to have access to land resources to produce food for their livelihood. Throughout this research, which I developed empirically with the voices of small-scale farmers, policymakers, decision-makers, and academic experts, I will be able to understand the underlying barriers to agricultural land use change in Indonesia on the right to food. I also propose how the current framework needs to be reformed to realise better food-related land use policies with a human rights approach.

Keywords: agricultural land use, food policies, food sovereignty, food security, right to food

Supervisors: Prof Amanda Kennedy, A/Prof Hope Johnson

I am educated in Indonesia, India, and Australia. I completed Sarjana Hukum (S.H. –Bachelor of Laws) at the University of Jember (2011), with a thesis that critically examines the regulatory framework of Indonesia's regional head elections and their way forward to endure the democratic process. Part of this research was published in a peer-reviewed journal, "Pemilihan Kepala Daerah di Indonesia Setelah Reformasi: Kesinambungan dan Perubahan," in Undang: Jurnal Hukum Vol. 4:2 (2021). I graduated Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International Economic Law from Osmania University (2015), with a thesis that critically analyses the membership of the European Union in the WTO and its impact on legal personality. Part of this thesis was published in a peer-reviewed journal, "Constitutional Debate on European Union’s Shifting Pathway towards Supranationalism," in Lex Scientia Law Review Vol. 6:1 (2022). In 2023, I started doing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), with a thesis that critically evaluates the relationship between Indonesia's agricultural land use decision-making and the right to food. I presented this part of the literature review at the 6th Conference on Human Rights (2023) held by the University of Sydney and was selected among the best papers, "Mainstreaming of the Right to Food in Indonesia's Decentralised Context."

Bachelor of Laws (S.H. –Sarjana Hukum) from the University of Jember, Indonesia (2007-2011)
Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International Economic Law from Osmania University, India (2013-2015)
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Law (Agricultural and Food Law) at Queensland University of Technology, Australia (2023-2027)

SCHOLARSHIPS

Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) Scholarship to pursue Doctor of Philosophy (2023-2027)
Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Scholarship to pursue Master's Degree (2013-2015)

AWARDS

Ambassador Awards for Excellence, Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in New Delhi (2013)
2nd Winner of Student of the Year at the University of Jember (2011)
1st Winner of the Student of the Year at the Faculty of Law, University of Jember (2011)
Padmo Wahjono Award, 1st Winner of the National Law Debate Competition held by the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia (2010)
Constitutional Award, 1st Winner of the National Writing Competition held by the Indonesian Constitutional Court (2009)

Email: m.ulum@hdr.qut.edu.au

Office: Z Block, Level 8, Room Z801, QUT Gardens Point, 2 George St, Brisbane 4000

Presentation

I have delivered presentations at conferences held by Indonesian Constitutional Court, University of Jember, University of Sydney, University of Indonesia, Vietnam National University, Chulalongkorn University, and National University of Singapore.

2022-2024

2024 – MB Ulum, 25 Years of Indonesia’s Food Policy Reform: Where Is Our Right to Food? 21st ASLI Conference: The Future of Law, The Future of Asia, organised by Chulalongkorn University and the Asian Law Institute (ASLI) National University of Singapore.
2023 – MB Ulum, The Mainstreaming of the Right to Food in Indonesia’s Decentralised Context, 6th Conference on Human Rights, organised by the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre (University of Sydney) and Universitas Gadjah Mada.
2022 – MB Ulum, Constitutionalism in Indonesia’s Religiously Divided Societies: Past and Present, the 2nd Asian Legal History Conference, hosted by the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University, the Asian Legal History Association, and CALS (National University of Singapore Faculty of Law).

2017-2021

2021 – MB Ulum, Partisipasi Publik, Media dan Pembentukan Undang-Undang, National Workshop on Constitutional Court Decision on Public Participation, organised by the Center for Pancasila and Constitutional Studies (UNEJ Faculty of Law).
2019 – MB Ulum, MM Taufiqurrohman, Food Security and Land Conversion in Indonesia’s Decentralization Regime: A Narrative of Legal and Social Responses from Below, International Conference on Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, organised by Faculty of Environmental Studies, Universitas Indonesia.
2019 – MB Ulum, Democracy, Elections, and Political Parties After Two Decades of the Post-Authoritarian Regimes in Indonesia, 8th Asian Constitutional Law Forum (Asian Constitutional Law: Recent Developments and Trends).
2018 – MB Ulum, The Limits of Constitutionalism on Emergency Laws in Indonesia, Asian Symposium on Legal Pluralism: Limits of Law, Limits of Legality, organised by the Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia.
2018 – MB Ulum, Questioning Emergency Laws against Constitutionalism in Indonesia, International Conference on Human Rights in Southeast Asia, organised by the Centre for Human Rights, Multiculturalism, and Migration (University of Jember) and the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre (University of Sydney).
2017 – MB Ulum, NA Hamida, Debating Democracy and Asian Values: From the Notion of Integralist State to the Wave of Democratization in Contemporary Indonesia, the Indonesian Constitutional Court International Symposium: Constitutional Court, Ideology, and Democracy in Plural Society, organised by the Indonesian Constitutional Court.
2017 – MB Ulum, Constitutional Debate on Religion and Secularism in Indonesia and India, International Summer Conference: Human Rights in Southeast Asia, organised by the Centre for Human Rights, Multiculturalism, and Migration (University of Jember).

Publication

I have published more than 20 articles, which comprise journal articles, editorials, book reviews, and book chapters written in English and Indonesian languages. Most of these articles are available in international databases, such as Scopus, Web of Science, HeinOnline, and DOAJ. Most of them are also published in nationally accredited journals indexed in SINTA 1, SINTA 2 and SINTA 3.

2020-2023