​The Legal Validity of E-Contracts in E-Commerce Transactions Based on Civil Law

Abstract

Purpose: This study analyzes how electronic contracts are formed in marketplace transactions and evaluates the legal consequences of their validity under the provisions of Indonesian civil law, using the Tokopedia marketplace as the object of study.Research Methodology: The study is descriptive-analytical and combines a normative juridical approach, through a literature review of the Indonesian Civil Code and Tokopedia's contract documents, with an empirical juridical approach, through observation of the contract formation process for customer and seller subjects, and analyzed qualitatively.Results: Contract formation has five stages: party identification, acceptance of the Terms and Privacy Notice, object identification, offer and acceptance, and finalization after a 48-hour complaint window. Under Article 1320 of the Civil Code, consent and a determinate object are satisfied, while legal capacity and lawful cause are not, due to unverified age and unlicensed products.Conclusions: Failure of the subjective requirement renders the contract voidable at the request of a party, whereas failure of the objective requirement renders it null and void by operation of law for the products concerned.Limitations: This study examines one marketplace at a single point in time and relies on documentary observation rather than adjudicated cases.Contributions: Unlike prior studies that assess electronic-contract validity in general terms, this study applies Article 1320 clause by clause to the actual contract documents and interface flows of a specific marketplace and pinpoints the verification and compliance points at which the operator can be required to act.