Leges Privatae
Vol. 2 No. 4 (2025): DECEMBER-JOY

Civil Law and Social Inequality: A Politics of Legal Protection Perspective

Shohib Muslim (Politeknik Negeri Malang)



Article Info

Publish Date
31 Dec 2025

Abstract

Civil law is normatively constructed on the assumption of formal equality among legal subjects. In social reality, however, civil law relations frequently operate within conditions of structural inequality arising from disparities in economic power, access to information, and bargaining position. The state responds to such inequalities through regulatory interventions framed as legal protection. This article examines the role of civil law in addressing social inequality from a legal protection politics perspective. Employing normative legal research with statute, conceptual, and case approaches, this study identifies normative ambiguity in civil law concerning the criteria for identifying protected weak parties, the boundary between legal protection and restrictions on private autonomy, and inconsistencies between the Civil Code and social-economic protection legislation. The findings demonstrate that such ambiguity renders civil law protection selective and often ineffective in correcting social inequality. This article argues for a normative reconstruction that positions civil law as a constitutional instrument for correcting social inequality, treating private autonomy as a conditional principle subject to substantive and distributive justice considerations.

Copyrights © 2025






Journal Info

Abbrev

JOY

Publisher

Subject

Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice

Description

This journal publishes original articles on current issues and international trends in the field of civil law, notary public, business law. The purpose of publishing this Journal is to provide a space to publish critical thinking on original research results, as well as conceptual ideas from ...