The 10th National Conference on Civil Law and the National Working Meeting of the Association of Civil Law Lecturers were held on 15 October 2025 and hosted by the Faculty of Law Universitas Surabaya. Under the theme “Principles of the Law of Obligations: Their Relevance and Application in the Present Day,” the conference served as a national academic forum to examine developments and challenges in the law of obligations amid evolving social, economic, and contemporary legal practices.
In this conference, Prof. Dr. Yetty Komalasari Dewi participated as a speaker and addressed the issue of adopting model laws in Indonesian civil law. Her presentation explored the challenges of civil law reform in the context of increasing interaction with international legal practices, particularly in contracts, business activities, and legal relations involving transnational elements. Model laws developed by international organisations such as UNIDROIT and UNCITRAL are often considered references for legal harmonisation and modernisation in response to globally integrated economic activities.
The discussion emphasised that civil law reform cannot be detached from Indonesia’s social, economic, and legal context. The adoption of international legal instruments should be understood as a selective and contextual process rather than a mere standardisation effort. In the field of obligations law, questions surrounding the urgency of adopting model laws have become increasingly relevant in light of the growth of modern business transactions, including cross-border contracts and legal relations arising from digital economic activities.
The conference further highlighted the importance of inclusive and collaborative approaches to civil law reform, particularly in relation to the proposed Law on Obligations. Legal reform was framed as a process requiring the involvement of multiple stakeholders, including academics, policymakers, business actors, and legal practitioners, to ensure that the resulting legal framework remains responsive to global developments while serving national interests. Through this forum, discussions on model law adoption were situated within a broader reflection on the future direction of Indonesia’s law of obligations in an increasingly interconnected legal and economic landscape.