Sriwijaya Law Review
Volume 10 Issue 2, July 2026

Reconsidering Legal Personhood in Indonesian Private Law: Bundles of Legal Incidents, Attribution, and Governance Failure

Shidarta Shidarta (Bina Nusantara University)
Febrian Febrian (Sriwijaya University)
Jeong Chun Phuoc (, Sultan Zainal Abidin University, Terengganu, Malaysia)



Article Info

Publish Date
31 Jul 2026

Abstract

Legal personhood is undergoing a profound conceptual shift as private law confronts claims involving nature and artificial intelligence. This article reconsiders legal personhood not as an ontological category but as a functional institutional device for allocating rights, duties, powers, liabilities, and immunities. It conceptualizes personhood as a point of attribution through which bundles of Hohfeldian legal incidents become operational in private-law relations and are translated into standing, enforceability, liability, and remedies. This article employs a doctrinal legal research method with a conceptual and analytical-jurisprudential orientation, combining Hohfeldian analysis with a structured comparative assessment. It examines the Atrato and Whanganui River models according to representational effectiveness, enforceability, remedial performance, and accountability allocation, and evaluates three design options for artificial intelligence: no personhood, limited personhood, and full personhood. Although centered on Indonesian private law, the analysis also considers transjurisdictional doctrinal and regulatory developments, particularly in Malaysia and the broader ASEAN region. The comparison indicates that personhood for nature operates effectively only when supported by workable representation, enforceable duties, and a concrete remedial architecture. For artificial intelligence, personhood is normatively justified only where it strengthens attribution and remedies without severing liability from the human and organizational actors who design, deploy, control, or benefit from AI systems. The article concludes that any expansion of legal personhood in Indonesian private law requires rigorous institutional justification and must not operate as a symbolic designation or liability shield.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

Publisher

Subject

Decision Sciences, Operations Research & Management Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice

Description

The Sriwijaya Law Review known as the SLRev launched on the 31st January 2017 and inaugurated formally by the Rector of the university is a forum which aims to provide a high-quality research and writing related to law. Areas that relevant to the scope of the journal cover: business law, criminal ...