This article is about a brief history of Panglima La’ōt Aceh and its current
position along with Adat La’ōt (customary law) among Acehnese community.
It will look at relationship between Adat and presence of Panglima La’ōt
(the Commanders of the Sea). To what extent we could say that there is a
strong connection between the adat laot and Panglima La’ōt? It is argued that
this institution has been established for more than 400 hundred years by the
Kingdom of Aceh. It is also said that adat laot is one of the oldest customary
law in Aceh. This article consists three sections. After the introduction, it will
discuss the history of Panglima La’ōt in Aceh. The next section is about the
current position of Panglima La’ōt in Acehnese society. Here, the data will be
focussed on the dynamics of fisher and their perpection toward the Panglima
La’ōt in different setting of research area. Finally, the examination of the
revitalization of Panglima La’ōt as formal institution in, especially the
overlapping of the authority of adat institution, will be provided in final section.