Dynamics of Civil Law in the Digital Era: Transformation, Challenges, and Legal Certainty

Abstract

The digital era has transformed the socio-economic landscape, giving rise to new legal objects and relationships unanticipated by the Indonesian Civil Code (KUHPerdata), a colonial-era legal product. Phenomena such as electronic contracts, digital assets (crypto assets and NFTs), and online dispute resolution (ODR) challenge the relevance and capability of the existing civil law framework. Despite partial regulations like the Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law, this legal fragmentation creates uncertainty and systemic friction, where a 19th-century legal framework clashes with 21st-century digital realities, thereby hindering the growth of the digital economy that demands legal certainty. This study aims to analyze the normative limitations of the KUHPerdata in accommodating digital transformation, identify key legal challenges related to the validity of electronic contracts, the property status of digital assets, and the effectiveness of ODR, and formulate a responsive and integrative civil law reform concept. This research employs a normative juridical method with a statute approach and a conceptual approach. The analysis is conducted on primary legal materials such as the KUHPerdata and the ITE Law, as well as secondary legal materials relevant to cyber law theory and legal reform.  The study finds that the concept of property ('kebendaan') in the KUHPerdata is inadequate for classifying digital assets, causing ambiguity in ownership, inheritance, and collateralization. While the ITE Law provides de jure legitimacy to electronic contracts, de facto implementation is hampered by the absence of technical rules on evidence and data security. Furthermore, the lack of a specific legal framework for ODR creates a legal vacuum that obstructs efficient e-commerce dispute resolution. Indonesia's current civil law framework is reactive and fragmented, failing to provide comprehensive legal certainty in the digital era. A fundamental and holistic reform of the KUHPerdata is imperative to modernize the concept of property law, establish secure standards for electronic transactions, and build a solid legal foundation for ODR.