Application of Civil Law Principles in Contract Drafting: A Study of Clauses and Protection of the Parties

Abstract

Contracts are fundamental legal instruments in civil relations because they establish rights, obligations, risk allocation, and legal consequences for the parties. This study aims to analyze the application of civil law principles in contract drafting in Indonesia, particularly the translation of legal principles into contractual clauses that balance the rights and obligations of the parties and provide legal protection. This study employs a normative juridical method using statutory, conceptual, and analytical approaches. The study analyzed primary and secondary legal materials qualitatively through doctrinal analysis and legal interpretation. The findings demonstrate that freedom of contract, consensualism, pacta sunt servanda, good faith, and contractual balance constitute essential foundations of effective contract drafting. Contract clauses should clearly regulate the parties’ identity and capacity, contractual objects, rights and obligations, performance standards, risk allocation, breach, force majeure, and dispute resolution. The findings further indicate that drafting techniques function as preventive legal protection by reducing ambiguity, limiting contractual imbalance, and strengthening legal certainty. The study concludes that effective contract drafting must extend beyond formal validity and integrate substantive fairness, proportionality, transparency, and legal protection to ensure balanced and enforceable civil relationships.