JAKARTA - The legal cases that occur in Indonesia are never ending. Violation of the law seems to be indiscriminate, because it can be done by anyone, be it public officials, artists, to ordinary people living in the village.

The type of law in Indonesia itself is divided into two categories, namely public law and private law. Both types of law have derivatives in the form of criminal law and civil law.

Civil law cases in the early months of 2021 were quite common. Many examples of civil law cases occur in everyday life. Many of these cases have happened to relationships between families, marriage / romance, to defamation.

As citizens who live in a country of law, it is better if we need to look at information about civil law and examples of cases.

Definition of Civil Law

Civil law is different from criminal law. Civil law regulates the realm of relations between communities, between individuals or individual interests.

The word 'law' refers to a set of rules. Meanwhile, 'civil' means the regulation of rights, property, and relationships with individuals or legal agents. The application of civil law is based on the principle of logic, while still paying attention to the norms of society

History of Civil Law in Indonesia

Civil law first appeared in Indonesia from the Dutch language 'Burgelijk Recht'. The Netherlands took these rules from continental European law which was included in the Roman Civil Law.

When the Dutch ruled the Dutch East Indies, these civil laws were also applied in Indonesia. The source of the law was codified in the Burgelijk Wetboek. Then translated into the Civil Code (KUH Perdata).

In 1948, the Code was formally enforced in Indonesia on the basis of the concordantie principle (political principle). The application of the rules is then adjusted to the norms and culture of the people in Indonesia. After that, civil law underwent many processes of change.

Civil Law Sanctions

Violations in civil law will receive sanctions in the form of compensation from the prosecution or other requests submitted. In filing a lawsuit, the prosecutor must bring evidence, for example land deeds or sale and purchase, cooperation contracts, and so on.

Example of Civil Law

Civil law often occurs in cases of family, household, occupation, buying and selling, to self-identity. Here are some examples.

Marriage Law

There are laws governing marital relationships. Marriage law is contained in Law no. 1 of 1974. This rule is included in civil law because it involves a relationship between individuals, namely husband and wife. Marriage arrangements are very important to prevent violations in domestic relationships, such as domestic violence, underage marriage, divorce, and custody of children.

Inheritance law

Regulations regarding inheritance are also included in civil law. This law is very important to answer cases, such as seizure of inheritance by children from the family. This law will regulate wajisat, parties entitled to receive and reject inheritance, fidei-commis, legitieme portie, untreated inheritance, inheritance rights, distribution of inheritance, executeur-testamentair and bewindvoerder.

Family Law

Not only marriage, family relationships are also regulated in civil law. Examples of civil family law generally take care of the law of heredity, parental power, guardianship, maturity, until missing persons.

Wealth Law

Matters concerning wealth are handled in civil law. Examples of civil wealth law, namely the distribution of assets of a company or institution, the distribution of an inventory of objects or goods, seeking solutions when there are problems in the distribution of wealth.

Defamation Law

Cases involving personal identity, such as defamation will be handled in civil law. The law will regulate the charges from the victim against the perpetrator who misused his identity. Many of these civil law cases now occur on social media. Examples of cases include hoaxes of public figures, artists' good names, and negative comments.

Example of Civil Law Cases

Falcon Pictures Default Lawsuit against Jefri Nichol

Falcon Pictures filed a lawsuit against Jefri Nichol on February 21 at the South Jakarta District Court. Jefri and two other defendants are suspected of having committed default since June 1, 2019.

This case is included in civil law because it involves the issue of wealth. The rules given concern the property of the Falcon Pictures company. Jefri was asked to pay the obligatory amount of IDR 4.2 billion.

Nora Alexandra reports on the account that took her photo

Nora Alexandra reported her defamation to the Special Crime Directorate on March 1, 2021. She demanded that the owner of the WhatsApp account, which uses her name and photo, become acquainted with men.

The Nora case is included in civil law because it involves defamation of one's identity. In that case, Nora felt annoyed, because the act of defamation had the potential to damage her household relationship.

Example of Article in the Civil Code

The following are examples of articles contained in the Civil Code.

Article 570

"Property rights are ownership to enjoy the use of a material freely and to act freely against that material with full sovereignty, as long as it does not contradict the law, public order without disturbing the rights of others."

Article 1320

"Approval requires four conditions: Agree on those who bind themselves; Skills in making bonds; A certain thing with a lawful cause. "

Article 1338

“All agreements that are legally made are valid as a law for those who make them. The agreement cannot be withdrawn other than by the agreement of the two parties, or for reasons which are stated by law to be sufficient for that. "


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