Can Foreign Court Decisions be Executed in Indonesia?

Determining the choice of law and jurisdiction that will be applied if there's a dispute between the Parties of the Agreement is certainly an important matter. In determining the choice of law, the Parties are given the freedom to choose the laws that will apply by themselves, as long as they did not violate the public order. In general, if the Parties who are bound to an Agreement are both Indonesian Citizens (WNI), then of course the choice of law used is Indonesian law, and the execution of the result of the decision will be easier to apply. However, what if one of the parties is a foreign citizen (WNA) or a foreign legal entity that chooses foreign law and foreign jurisdiction in resolving the dispute? Can foreign court decisions be executed in Indonesia?

If we refer to Article 436 Rv, basically the decisions of foreign courts cannot be executed in the territory of the Republic of Indonesia and based on the explanation of Sudargo Gautama (V) in his book entitled "Aneka Masalah Hukum Perdata Internasional", that a judge's decision can only be implemented in the territory of his country, is a principle in International Civil Law and has been followed in a contract for a long time. However, there is an exception to Article 436 Rv. M. Yahya Harahap explained in his book entitled "Hukum Acara Perdata", that a decision by a foreign court can be executed in Indonesia (through an Indonesian court) if it is regulated in a separate law, bilateral agreement or multilateral agreement which excludes the enactment of Article 436 Rv.

Suria Nataadmadja & Associates Law Firm

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