The Legal Status of Sale and Purchase Deeds Executed under Abuse of Circumstances in Civil Dispute Evidence

Abstract

This article examines the legal status of sale and purchase deeds executed under abuse of circumstances (Misbruik van Omstandigheden) within the evidentiary framework of civil disputes in Indonesian contract law. Although formally valid as authentic deeds under Article 1868 of the Indonesian Civil Code, such deeds may be materially flawed when executed under unequal bargaining conditions involving economic coercion, psychological dominance, or informational imbalance. Employing a normative juridical method with statutory, conceptual, and jurisprudential approaches, this study applies the theories of legal certainty, justice, and evidence to assess the enforceability and probative force of such deeds. The study reveals that abuse of circumstances constitutes a defect of will (wilsgebreken), undermining the subjective validity required by Article 1320 of the Civil Code. The novelty of this research lies in its integrated analysis of evidentiary consequences arising from private agreements tainted by structural inequality, an area often neglected in existing legal literature. The article concludes that the absence of explicit statutory provisions on abuse of circumstances contributes to doctrinal fragmentation and legal uncertainty in civil adjudication