Legal Development and Human Rights in the Governance of Indonesia's Free Nutritious Meals Program: A Good Governance Perspective

Abstract

Legal development plays a fundamental role in ensuring that constitutional rights are effectively realized through public governance. This study examines Indonesia's Free Nutritious Meals Program by addressing the theoretical relationship between legal development, human rights, and governance quality in fulfilling the constitutional rights to adequate food, health, and social welfare. The study aims to analyze the normative legal framework governing the MBG program and to develop a governance model that strengthens constitutional rights through legal development, human rights principles, good governance, and public accountability. A normative legal research design with conceptual and socio-legal orientations is employed using statutory, conceptual, and case approaches. The analysis draws upon constitutional provisions, legislation, international human rights instruments, legal doctrines, and scholarly literature to evaluate the coherence between legal norms and governance practices. The findings indicate that Indonesia has established a robust legal foundation for the MBG program; however, regulatory fragmentation, institutional coordination, food safety supervision, transparency, and accountability continue to limit effective implementation. The study proposes an integrated governance model emphasizing regulatory harmonization, institutional strengthening, digital governance, collaborative oversight, performance-based auditing, public participation, and human rights-oriented evaluation. The article contributes to legal theory by demonstrating that legal development extends beyond regulatory formulation and depends upon institutional capacity and governance quality. It also advances socio-legal scholarship by explaining how law functions simultaneously as a normative framework and a social institution that enables the effective realization of constitutional rights and sustainable public welfare.