Contrarius Series: Law & Social Justice
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2026): Contrarius Series: Law & Social Justice

The Presence of Parties in the Drafting of Notarial Deeds in the Digital Era: A Comparative Legal Study in Indonesian




Article Info

Publish Date
10 Mar 2026

Abstract

The digitalization of contract law and public services challenges traditional notarial practice, especially the rule that parties must be physically present before a notary when executing authentic deeds. Indonesia’s Electronic Information and Transactions Law (E-IT Law) recognizes the legal validity of electronic documents and signatures, yet the Notary Office Law still presumes in-person appearances. This normative-comparative study analyzes Indonesian instruments (Notary Office Law, E-IT Law, and Personal Data Protection Law) and compares e-notarization approaches in the Netherlands, Singapore, and Malaysia. We find that Indonesia’s physical-presence model is misaligned with the E-IT Law’s recognition of secure electronic documents. Dutch emergency measures during COVID-19 demonstrated that remote notarial acts can be institutionalized with safeguards in place. Singapore and Malaysia provide technologically neutral e-signature frameworks that support remote identification, robust audit trails, and data protection. We recommend amending the Notary Office Law to recognize an online presence as the functional equivalent of physical presence, provided that identity assurance, integrity, auditability, and data protection are satisfied.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

LSJCP

Publisher

Subject

Education Energy Environmental Science Health Professions Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice Public Health Social Sciences

Description

Contrarius Series: Law & Social Justice is an Proceedings Open Access publication series dedicated to archiving conference proceedings in all areas related to Law, Crime, Environment, Energy, Education, Economic, Tourism and Social Justice. The Contrarius Series: Law & Social Justice covers the ...