The Urgency of Isbat Nikah in the Dynamics of Living Law: A Sociology of Law Analysis of Unregistered Marriage in Indonesia
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Abstract
This study analyses the gap between the statutory duty to register marriages and the practice of unregistered (siri) marriage that persists as living law in Indonesian society, the social and legal consequences of unregistered marriages, and the urgency and limits of marriage validation (isbat nikah) as a bridge between the two. It employs juridical normative research combining statutory and conceptual approaches. Data were drawn from primary legal materials, official figures released by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the civil registry, and findings of prior studies, and were analysed qualitatively through Eugen Ehrlich's theory of living law and Lawrence M. Friedman's legal system theory. The findings show that siri marriage persists because religious validity has become the dominant social norm while registration is perceived as a mere administrative formality, a perception reinforced by economic and geographical barriers and low legal literacy. Women and children bear the greatest vulnerability concerning maintenance, marital property, inheritance, and legal identity. Isbat nikah functions as a recognition mechanism that transforms a marriage valid under living law into one acknowledged by the state; however, it is used largely reactively and may be misused to legitimise unauthorised polygamy or child marriage. Isbat nikah should therefore be situated within a policy framework that balances curative and preventive functions through strengthened legal awareness, integrated services, and judicial prudence.
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