In order to disseminate legal knowledge in the field of notarial law to the public, the Master’s Program in Notarial Law at the UGM Faculty of Law once again posted “Three Minute Thesis #3” on August 13, 2025, on its Instagram account @notariatlaw.ugm and the UGM Faculty of Law Master’s Program in Notarial Law YouTube channel. “Three Minute Thesis” is a video summarizing the findings of students’ final research projects (theses). This time, the Three Minute Thesis featured the thesis titled “The Legal Status of the Subject Matter of a Sale and Purchase Agreement in the Form of Undivided Land Used as Collateral and Its Resolution to Protect the Buyer’s Rights in Bankruptcy Cases (A Study of Supreme Court Decision No. 395 K/PDT. SUS-PAILIT/2024)” by Prilly Priscilia Sahetapy, with Irna Nurhayati, S.H., M.Hum., LL.M., Ph.D., serving as her thesis advisor.
This study is based on the fact that, in the relevant court decision, 10 homebuyers sued the trustee because the land and homes they had paid for in full were included in the developer’s list of bankruptcy assets, even though they did not yet hold title deeds in their own names. The research questions in this study are: (1) What is the legal status of the subject matter of a Preliminary Sales and Purchase Agreement (PPJB)—specifically, land that has not yet been subdivided and has been pledged as collateral—in a bankruptcy case under Indonesian law (Study of Commercial Court Decision No. 28/Pdt.Sus-Gugatan Lain-Lain/PN Niaga Jkt.Pst in conjunction with Supreme Court Decision No. 395 K/Pdt.Sus -Pailit/2024)?; and (2) How should the subject matter of the PPJB be resolved following Supreme Court Decision No. 395 K/Pdt.Sus-Pailit/2024 to protect the buyers’ rights in bankruptcy cases?
This study highlights the differences in rulings by the District Court and the Supreme Court regarding preliminary sales and purchase agreements (PPJB) in cases involving developer bankruptcies, in which the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the buyers by affirming that the PPJB remains valid even if the title deed has not yet been split and the land is still pledged as collateral, because the buyers acted in good faith and fulfilled their contractual obligations in accordance with Article 1320 of the Civil Code. However, this ruling requires concrete implementation, specifically the obligation of the trustee to remove the land and house from the list of bankruptcy assets and to continue the sale and purchase process until a certificate of freehold title is issued in the buyer’s name. This process requires coordination among the trustee, creditors, the Public Notary (PPAT), and the Land Office through technical stages such as partial release of encumbrances, certificate subdivision, the Deed of Sale (AJB), title transfer, and the conversion of the Right to Build (HGB) into freehold title, so that the buyers’ rights can be fully and legally protected.
The Three Minute Thesis demonstrates the commitment of the administration and students of the Master of Notary Program, Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada, to improving the quality of education, which is Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is achieved through efforts to disseminate legal knowledge in the field of notarial practice so that the public can better understand the protection of buyers’ rights to land in bankruptcy proceedings through the certainty of the PPJB’s status. For more details, this Three Minute Thesis #3 can be accessed at the following links: https://www.instagram.com/p/DNS0g-RPV64/ and/or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pzvi3j1h6s.
Author : Program Director of the Master’s Program in Notarial Law, Faculty of Law, UGM.
