Daftar Isi:
  • The contract dispute often arises because of the interpretation differences. When the contents of a contract is disputed, the judge ex officio has the authority to judge and do contract interpretation. However, the authority of the judge is not limitless. Because if the contract can be interpreted freely and without limit, the contract will not have the legal certainly. The aims of this research are finding and analyzing : (1) the basis of the judge authority in judging contract disputes; (2) the principles and the methods of contract interpretation; and (3) the limits of the judge authority in interpreting a contract. To answer these legal issues, this normative legal research using statute approach, conceptual approach, case approach, and comparative approach. The primary legal materials of this research are the Act number 48 of 2009 on the Judicial Power, the Act number 2 of 1986 on the General Courts, as lastly amended by Act number 49 of 2009, other Indonesian legislation, Indonesian Civil Code (Burgerlijk Weboek), and Court decisions. Meanwhile, the Civil Code of the Netherlands (New Burgerlijk Wetboek) and the model laws are used as comparison. Philosophically, the judge has the authority to judge and interpret the contract. However, the authority of the judge is not absolute. The judge should always pay attention to the facts revealed in the Court, the principles of the contract interpretation, and the text of the contract disputed. The judge also should always employ the interpretation methods, so that the interpretation may discover the true contents of a contract. This research eventually offering the hermeneutics as a method in interpreting a contract.