Kekuatan Hukum Putusan Hakim Verstek Berupa Putusan Niet Ontvankelijke Verklaard (N.O) dalam Perkara Perdata(Studi Putusan Nomor 120/Pdt.G/2021/PN Mlg)

Abstract

A decision declaring a claim inadmissible (niet ontvankelijk verklaard) is a type of judgment in civil proceedings rendered without examining the merits of the case due to formal defects in the lawsuit. One such defect arises when the lawsuit suffers from incomplete parties (plurium litis consortium). This study aims to analyze the judge’s legal reasoning in rendering a niet ontvankelijk verklaard decision through a default judgment (verstek) due to the absence of necessary parties, to examine the binding force of such a decision in relation to legal certainty, and to assess its legal implications for the parties’ right to re-file the lawsuit. This research employs a normative legal research method using statutory and case approaches. The findings indicate that the niet ontvankelijk verklaard decision rendered by default in Decision Number 120/Pdt.G/2021/PN Mlg was based on the plaintiff’s failure to include all legally interested parties, constituting a plurium litis consortium defect. Such a decision has binding force limited to procedural aspects and does not establish substantive legal certainty over the object of the dispute. Furthermore, a niet ontvankelijk verklaard decision rendered through verstek does not eliminate the parties’ right to re-submit the claim after rectifying the formal deficiencies and therefore does not give rise to the principle of ne bis in idem. This study contributes to the development of civil procedural law by clarifying the legal position and consequences of inadmissible decisions rendered through default judgments, particularly in cases involving plurium litis consortium defects. Thus, a niet ontvankelijk verklaard decision functions as a procedural control mechanism in civil procedural law while continuing to safeguard the parties’ right of access to justice.