Voluntary Bankruptcy Petition Sebagai Pemberesan Utang Subjek Hukum Orang (Studi Perbandingan Hukum Kepailitan Indonesia Dengan US Bankruptcy Code)

Abstract

This study discusses voluntary bankruptcy petitions as a debt forgiveness mechanism for individuals in the context of Indonesian bankruptcy law, comparing it with the US Bankruptcy Code. The main issues examined are: (1) how voluntary bankruptcy petitions work under Indonesian bankruptcy law; (2) how the bankruptcy process and the concept of debt elimination compare between corporate debtors and individual debtors in Indonesian and US law; and (3) whether voluntary bankruptcy petitions in Indonesia will result in debt elimination for individual debtors acting in good faith. The type of research used is normative legal research with a legislative, conceptual, and comparative approach. Data were obtained through a literature study analyzed deductively using bankruptcy theory, the fresh start principle, and the principle of good faith. The results show that the voluntary bankruptcy petition mechanism has been recognized in the Indonesian bankruptcy law system based on Article 2 paragraph (1) of the Bankruptcy Law and PKPU, but it does not yet provide consequences in the form of debt forgiveness. This is in contrast to the system in the United States, which adheres to the fresh start principle, whereby individual debtors acting in good faith can obtain debt relief after the bankruptcy process is complete. Therefore, Indonesian bankruptcy law needs to accommodate the principle of debt forgiveness for individual debtors acting in good faith in its legal strengthening, so that bankruptcy does not only function as an instrument of liquidation, but also as a means of legal protection and economic recovery for debtors.