Itsbat Nikah: Legalizing marriage outside the record in Indonesia

Abstract

This study focuses on the legal impact of marriage registration in the context of itsbat marriages in religious courts, particularly for marriages that occurred after 1974 without an official certificate and were not registered in the compilation of Islamic law (KHI). It aims to evaluate the itsbat marriage as a legal mechanism for recognizing marriages that are not officially registered. Normative analysis, a philosophical and analytical approach, serves as the research method, reviewing the relevant legal framework and court practice in handling divorce cases. The results showed that unregistered marriages after 1974 can be legally recognised through the itsbat nikah procedure. The Article 7, Paragraph 3, letter KHI, outlines the necessary conditions. With this procedure, spouses can receive written evidence of their marriage’s legality in the form of a marriage certificate, which is then registered by the official Religious Affairs office. This study emphasizes the importance of marriage registration for legal certainty and protection of individual rights, and highlights how itsbat nikah plays a critical role in addressing the problem of marriage without official registration.