ELECTRONIC CERTIFICATE OF LAND RIGHTS IN THE NATIONAL LAND LAW SYSTEM IN THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ERA

Abstract

The digital transformation of land administration in Indonesia has accelerated the adoption of electronic land certificates as an instrument for improving administrative efficiency, data security, and legal certainty. This study examines the legal status of electronic land certificates within Indonesia’s national land law system and identifies the principal legal, institutional, governance, and technological challenges affecting their implementation. Employing a qualitative descriptive design with a normative juridical approach, the study analyzes the Basic Agrarian Law, the Electronic Information and Transactions Law, regulations issued by the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN), and relevant legal and scholarly literature. The findings demonstrate that electronic land certificates have a valid legal foundation and offer significant advantages, including faster administrative procedures, enhanced document authentication through certified electronic signatures, improved protection of land records, and reduced risks of physical loss and document forgery. Nevertheless, their implementation remains constrained by regulatory inconsistencies, institutional capacity gaps, unequal digital infrastructure, cybersecurity risks, data protection concerns, and potential disputes arising from electronic system failures. The study further identifies permissioned blockchain as a potential complementary mechanism for strengthening data integrity, traceability, and transactional transparency, provided that its adoption is supported by appropriate legal and institutional safeguards. This study contributes an integrated legal–institutional–technological framework for understanding electronic land administration and argues that regulatory harmonization, strengthened digital governance, institutional capacity development, and resilient cybersecurity infrastructure are essential to ensuring legal certainty and sustainable protection of land rights in Indonesia.