Juridical Study of Disharmony of Regulations and Judges' Considerations in the Burden of Adult Child Support After Divorce

Abstract

The absence of a uniform legal standard regarding the age of children in Indonesian legislation has created normative inconsistency and legal uncertainty, particularly in determining parental maintenance obligations following divorce. This study aims to analyse the regulatory disharmony concerning the legal age of children in Indonesian positive law, examine its juridical implications for legal certainty and judicial practice, and formulate a framework for legislative harmonisation based on the principle of the best interests of the child. This research employed normative legal research using statutory, conceptual, and case approaches. Primary legal materials consisted of the 1945 Constitution, the Civil Code, the Marriage Law, the Child Protection Law, the Juvenile Criminal Justice System Law, the Compilation of Islamic Law, and selected judicial decisions of the Sidoarjo Religious Court concerning child maintenance. These materials were analysed qualitatively through statutory interpretation, comparative legal analysis, and juridical examination of judicial reasoning. The findings reveal that Indonesian legislation adopts three principal age standards—18 years, 19 years, and 21 years—reflecting sector-specific regulatory objectives but lacking normative coherence. This regulatory plurality has resulted in inconsistent judicial interpretation, particularly regarding the continuation of child maintenance for children above twenty-one years of age, thereby undermining legal certainty and the consistent protection of children's rights. The study argues that legislative harmonisation should reaffirm eighteen years as the general legal definition of a child (lex generalis), while preserving the nineteen-year minimum marriage age as a lex specialis designed exclusively to prevent child marriage. Such harmonisation would strengthen legal certainty, promote consistency in judicial decision-making, and establish a more coherent legal framework that better safeguards the constitutional rights and best interests of children in Indonesia.