
Yogyakarta, September 29, 2026 — The Faculty of Law, Universitas Islam Indonesia (FH UII), held a Public Dissertation Defense and Doctoral Promotion for Junaidi Arif on Saturday, September 26, 2026, in the 4th Floor Auditorium of FH UII. During the solemn open hearing, Junaidi Arif successfully defended his dissertation titled “A Hardship Clause Model in Commercial Contracts Providing Fairness for the Parties” before the board of examiners.
The candidate’s (promovendus) research was driven by the goal of formulating a hardship clause model in commercial contracts that delivers justice for all involved parties, responding directly to the absence of explicit statutory norms in Indonesian contract law. The researcher addressed three primary issues: first, the philosophical necessity of hardship clauses in Indonesian contract law; second, how Indonesian contract law currently fails to accommodate hardship according to international contract law standards; and third, the formulation of an equitable hardship clause model within Indonesian contract law.
Presenting his findings to the examiners, the doctoral candidate explained that from a philosophical standpoint, a hardship clause reflects the principles of justice and balance in contractual relationships by providing an adaptive mechanism to manage unpredictability. This clause allows the parties to renegotiate their obligations so that neither party is unfairly burdened. The lack of accommodation for hardship in Indonesian contract law aligned with international standards stems from Indonesia’s positive law relying on the Civil Code (KUHPerdata), a legacy of Dutch colonial law. This gap reflects a normative vacuum that creates legal uncertainty in practice whenever fundamental changes occur that make performance excessively onerous for one party. The hardship clause model developed by the International Trade Centre (ITC)—recognized as a best-practice model in international contract practice—can be adopted as a structural reference for commercial contracts, while still honoring the principle of party autonomy to determine whether to regulate the clause specifically or exclude it entirely.
The novelty of this research lies in the formulation of a hardship clause model into legislation as an explicit, comprehensive, and operational norm with a semi-mandatory structure. Under this framework, the state is obligated to provide basic norms and minimum protections, while the parties remain free to tailor the implementation mechanism to suit their specific contractual needs.
Junaidi Arif completed his dissertation under the guidance of Promoter Prof. Nandang Sutrisno, S.H., LL.M., M.Hum., Ph.D., and Co-Promoter Dodik Setiawan Nur Heriyanto, S.H., M.H., LL.M., Ph.D. The examination board for the public defense was chaired by Drs. Agus Triyanta, M.A., M.H., Ph.D., with board members including Prof. Dr. Agus Yudha Hernoko, S.H., M.H., Prof. Dr. Abdul Halim Barkatullah, S.Ag., S.H., M.Hum., Dr. Siti Anisah, S.H., M.Hum., and Dr. Inda Rahadiyan, S.H., LL.M.
































