Colonial Legacy and Gender Inequality in Marital Property Law: A Critical Analysis of Article 119 of the Indonesian Civil Code

Abstract

This article critically examines the legal protection of a wife’s separate property within Indonesia’s national legal system, focusing on the normative conflict between Article 119 of the Indonesian Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek) and Article 35 of Law Number 1 of 1974 on Marriage. The core legal issue addressed is whether the automatic community of property regime established by Article 119, which absorbs all assets into joint marital property in the absence of a prenuptial agreement, remains compatible with constitutional principles of gender equality, legal certainty, and substantive justice. The objective of this study is to evaluate the continuing relevance of Article 119, assess its practical impact on the economic rights of wives, and formulate a juridically sound reformulation that aligns civil law with constitutional and human rights standards. This research employs a normative juridical method, utilizing statutory, conceptual, jurisprudential, and comparative approaches. Primary legal materials include the Civil Code, the Marriage Law, the 1945 Constitution, and selected Supreme Court decisions, while secondary materials consist of legal doctrine and international scholarly studies on matrimonial property regimes. The findings demonstrate that Article 119 of the Civil Code is no longer consistent with Indonesia’s constitutional commitment to gender equality and legal protection, as it allows a wife’s separate property to be absorbed into joint marital assets and exposed to division, inheritance claims, or creditors’ rights. In contrast, Article 35 of the Marriage Law affirms the autonomy of each spouse over separate property and reflects a more equitable legal paradigm. Judicial practice, however, still shows normative dualism, generating legal uncertainty and structural vulnerability for wives. The study further finds that progressive jurisprudence has begun to recognize separate property rights, but these developments remain fragmented without legislative reform. This study is significant because it provides a comprehensive normative and constitutional justification for reformulating Article 119 of the Civil Code, proposing a shift from an automatic community of property regime to a model based on individual property autonomy and mutual consent. By integrating constitutional principles, gender justice, and comparative family law, this research contributes to the development of a more coherent, equitable, and modern Indonesian civil law system that effectively protects the economic rights of wives within marriage.