<![CDATA[Under Law No. 5 of 1960 on Land, land ownership in Indonesia is strictly limited to Indonesian citizens. However, in practice, the use of nominee agreement schemes remains widespread, allowing foreign nationals to retain control over land by using the name of an Indonesian citizen as the legal holder of the rights. The objective of this study is to analyze the legal status of nominee agreements in cases of land ownership by foreign nationals and to examine how the judge provided reasoning in Judgment No. 294K/PDT/2023. The methodology employed in this study is normative, involving an examination of applicable regulations, judicial decisions, and relevant legal literature. The research findings reveal that these nominee agreements actually violate national agrarian law; the purpose behind this practice is none other than to circumvent the prohibitions stipulated in Article 21(1) and Article 26(2) of the Agrarian Law regarding ownership by foreign nationals. From a civil law perspective, such agreements are also invalid because they do not meet the requirement of a lawful cause under Article 1320 of the Civil Code, and thus can be declared null and void. In the analyzed ruling, the judge placed greater emphasis on the origin of the funds used to purchase the land and disregarded the guidelines in Supreme Court Circular Letter No. 10 of 2020. This approach has the potential to create legal uncertainty and open the door to legal circumvention through nominee agreements.]]>
