Legal Literacy – This article discusses legal subjects which are divided into three types, namely natural persons (natuurlijke persoon), legal entities (rechts persoon), and figures/officials. The article also informs about changes in determining the age of majority according to Article 39 paragraph 1 of Law No. 30 of 2004 concerning Notary Positions.

Legal subjects are everything that can have rights and obligations under the law, or everything that supports rights and obligations under the law. This means that every creature that is permitted to have, acquire, and exercise rights and obligations in law is included as a legal subject. Legal subjects have certain characteristics such as being independent, protected (in cases of underage or incapable circumstances), and acting as intermediaries.

  1. Natural person (natuurlijke persoon)
  2. Legal entity (rechts persoon)
  3. Figures/ officials

In general, the classification of legal subjects is divided into two, namely humans or natural persons and legal entities or legal persons.

a. Human/ Person

Every person, whether a citizen or a foreigner, has a position as a legal subject. Therefore, it can be said that every person is considered a legal subject from birth to death.

As a legal subject, every person has rights that can be exercised and guaranteed by applicable law.

Article 1 of the Civil Code states that citizenship rights can be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of their citizenship status. In addition, everyone is considered capable of acting as a legal subject unless the Law states otherwise.

Requirements for having legal capacity include:

  • A person who is of legal age (21 years or older)
  • A person who is under 21 years old but is married
  • A person who is not currently serving a sentence
  • Of sound mind and not mentally disturbed

Whereas the conditions that do not have legal capacity include:

  • A person who is not of legal age
  • A person suffering from memory loss
  • A person who is not level-headed
  • A person placed under guardianship
  • A married woman (Article 1330 of the Civil Code).

Some people consider adulthood for a teenager to be an achievement worth celebrating. In general, if a person has celebrated their 17th birthday and has an ID card or driver's license, they are considered an adult. This means that they have changed from child status to adult and can be legally responsible for themselves.

A person's age of majority is very important in the eyes of the law because it is related to the legality of legal actions carried out by a person or the acceptance of legal subject status. In other words, when a person reaches the age of majority, he has the right to make agreements with other people and take certain legal actions, such as selling or buying land or houses in his own name without assistance from his parents as guardians. However, is a 17-year-old considered an adult in the eyes of the law?

It turns out that the public's perception of the age of majority is different from the age of majority in the eyes of the law. According to Marriage Law No. 1/1974 and the Civil Code, a person is considered an adult when they reach the age of 21 or are married. For years, this age of majority has been followed by all legal experts in Indonesia. Therefore, if there is land or a building registered in the name of a child who has not reached the age of 21, then the sale and purchase of the property requires permission or a determination from the local District Court.

The same also applies when establishing a PT/CV/FIRMA/YAYASAN, if one of the founders is still under 21 years old, then they must be represented by one of their parents.

However, since October 6, 2004 when Law No. 30 of 2004 concerning the Position of Notary was enacted, there has been a change in determining the age of majority. According to Article 39 paragraph 1, a person must meet the following requirements: (a) be at least 18 years old or married, and (b) be capable of performing legal acts. Therefore, it can be concluded that anyone who is 18 years of age or older or is married is considered an adult and has the right to act as a legal subject.

According to Zainuddin Ali, law is related to rights and obligations. Everyone as a legal subject has rights and obligations. However, not everyone is allowed to act on their own in exercising their rights, such as people who are not of legal age or have not reached the age of 18, people who are not mentally healthy, or are under guardianship. These incapable people must be represented or assisted by other people in carrying out legal actions.

A legal entity or rechts persoon is a group of people formed by law as a legal subject who can take legal actions like humans. They can own assets, make agreements, and take actions that can create legal relationships. The assets of a legal entity are separate from the assets of its members, so the legal entity can act through its administrators. Legal entities can also have rights and obligations that are separate from the rights and obligations of their members. This has important implications in the economic field, especially in trade. Thus, a legal entity can be considered as an entity that has assets, rights and obligations like an individual.

An example of submitting a legal entity can be done with the following steps: first, making a notarial deed; second, registering the legal entity with the local State Court Registrar's office; third, requesting ratification of the Articles of Association (AD) to the Minister of Law and Human Rights or the Minister of Finance for pension fund legal entities; fourth, announcing it in the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia.

There are many opinions on how legal entities can have the nature of legal subjects like humans. Various theories have been developed in the academic world to explain this. According to Salim HS, the concession theory is the most influential theory in positive law. This theory states that legal entities cannot have legal personality such as rights, obligations, and assets, unless permitted by law, which in essence is the state itself.

There are two types of legal entities that are distinguished, namely:

This is a legal entity established for the benefit of the public or the community in general. A public legal entity is a legal entity established by the government or a management body assigned to do so, such as the State of the Republic of Indonesia, Regional Governments of levels I and II, Bank Indonesia, and State-Owned Enterprises.

This is a legal entity established based on civil law or private law concerning the interests of many people within the legal entity. A private legal entity is a private legal entity established by individuals for specific purposes, such as profit, social, education, science, and others according to applicable law, such as limited liability companies, cooperatives, foundations, charities.

According to J.J. Dormeier, a Legal Entity can be explained as follows:

A Legal Entity includes a group of people who act as a single legal entity and a foundation, which is wealth used for a specific purpose. In addition to humans, a Legal Entity in law has rights and performs legal actions like humans, and has its own assets, is represented by management, and can sue or be sued before a judge.

Legal Entities can be divided into two types, namely public Legal Entities such as the state, provinces, and regencies, and private Civil Law such as limited liability companies (PT), foundations, and cooperatives.

From the explanation above, it can be concluded about the definition of a Legal Entity as a legal subject that includes the following:

  1. group of people (organization);
  2. able to take legal action in legal relations;
  3. has its own assets;
  4. has management;
  5. has rights and obligations;
  6. can sue or be sued in court.

Read Also:A Complete Guide to Derden Verzet in Civil Law

As a legal subject, a Legal Entity must meet the requirements stipulated by law, namely:

  1. have assets that are separate from the assets of its members;
  2. the rights and obligations of the Legal Entity are separate from the rights and obligations of its members.

There are four theories used as requirements for a Legal Entity to become a legal subject, namely:

  1. Fictitious Theory which states that Legal Entities are only created by the state;
  2. The Purposeful Wealth Theory that only humans can be legal subjects;
  3. The Ownership Theory which states that the rights and obligations of a Legal Entity are essentially the rights and obligations of members together; and
  4. The Organ Theory which states that the Legal Entity is an entity that is truly present in legal life.