Supreme Court Decision Number 1130 K/Pdt/2017 represents an important point in resolving the tension between the patrilineal customary law of the Manggarai community and the principle of equality in Indonesian national law. This study aims to analyse the position of patrilineal customary law within the national legal system, women’s inheritance rights from the perspectives of jurisprudence and human rights, and the judges’ reasoning in correcting custom-based discrimination. The method employed is normative juridical research using statutory, case, and conceptual approaches. Primary legal materials comprise Supreme Court Decision Number 1130 K/Pdt/2017, the 1945 Constitution, Law Number 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights, and related jurisprudence, while secondary legal materials consist of legal literature, scholarly journals, and books. Data were collected through library research, and analysed using legal interpretation and legal argumentation. The findings show that patrilineal customary law which does not recognise women’s inheritance rights is deemed contrary to Article 27 of the 1945 Constitution and to Law Number 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights. The Supreme Court has consistently continued the jurisprudence established since Decision Number 179 K/SIP/1961, which equated the inheritance rights of women and men. This study is not the first of its kind, but it offers an analytical contribution by reading the decision as a point at which three legal operations converge constitutional equality, the conditional recognition afforded by Article 18B paragraph (2), and the authority of Supreme Court jurisprudence and by separating the three in argumentative terms.
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