Abstract

This study aims to analyze legal issues and problems in the regulation and implementation of the mechanism for selecting and dismissing the Head of the Neighborhood in Mataram City based on Mataram Mayor Regulation Number 1 of 2013 as amended by Mataram Mayor Regulation Number 14 of 2024, and to formulate an ideal legal reconstruction. The existence of the Head of the Neighborhood has a strategic role as an extension of the village head in public services and community empowerment. However, after the enactment of Law Number 6 of 2014 concerning Villages and Government Regulation Number 17 of 2018 concerning Districts, this position is no longer explicitly regulated in national regulations, thus causing disharmony, a vacuum of norms, and legal uncertainty at the regional level. This research uses a normative-empirical legal method with a statutory, sociological, and case-based approach. The results indicate normative weaknesses in the form of multiple interpretations of regulations, unclear standard procedures for selection and dismissal, and the absence of adequate oversight mechanisms. Implementationally, variations in mechanisms between sub-districts, the dominance of informal processes, and the potential for intervention by local elites are found, which have implications for weak democratic legitimacy and legal certainty. The proposed legal reconstruction includes affirming the basis of authority within a decentralized framework, formulating more detailed and operational norms, establishing accountable oversight mechanisms, and harmonizing vertical and horizontal regulations in accordance with the principles of good legal regulation. Thus, the mechanism for selecting and dismissing neighborhood heads is expected to be not only legally valid but also sociologically effective and able to strengthen the principles of local democracy and the rule of law.