<![CDATA[Authentic deeds play a central role in providing legal certainty because they possess strong evidentiary authority. However, formal authenticity does not necessarily guarantee substantive validity when a party’s consent results from inequality, vulnerability, or abuse of circumstances. This study examines the relationship between abuse of circumstances and notarial liability and formulates a liability framework that safeguards both legal certainty and contractual fairness. It employs normative legal research using statutory, conceptual, case, and comparative approaches, with England, Germany, and France providing comparative perspectives. The study produces three principal findings. First, abuse of circumstances constitutes a defect of consent that can undermine contractual validity, although its recognition in Indonesian law remains primarily jurisprudential rather than explicitly codified. Second, defective consent may affect the substantive validity of an authentic deed and provide grounds for annulment despite its formal evidentiary strength. Third, notarial liability should extend beyond procedural compliance toward substantive protection of genuine and voluntary consent through prudence, good faith, verification of the parties’ understanding, and identification of significant power imbalances. Comparative analysis confirms that effective protection requires the integration of formal authentication with substantive safeguards against exploitation.]]>
