The Paradox of Freedom of Contract in Land Sales: Legal Certainty and Contractual Justice

Abstract

Freedom of contract is a fundamental principle of contract law that ensures party autonomy and the binding force of agreements. In land sale agreements, however, contractual certainty may conflict with contractual justice when the performance of contractual clauses produces discrepancies in rights, obligations, performance, or risk allocation. This study analyzes the position of freedom of contract in ensuring legal certainty and determines the limits of its application in realizing contractual justice in land sale agreements. This study employs normative legal research using statutory and conceptual approaches. Legal materials are analyzed qualitatively through a prescriptive-analytical method. The findings demonstrate that freedom of contract performs two functions: an internal function, ensuring certainty regarding contractual rights, obligations, performance, objects, prices, and risks; and an external function, requiring contractual certainty to be integrated with the legal requirements governing the transfer and registration of land rights. The study further finds that the binding force of contract is not absolute. Good faith, propriety, and proportionality operate as substantive parameters for assessing contractual performance. Accordingly, contractual justice is not the antithesis of pacta sunt servanda but a substantive parameter that harmonizes contractual binding force with legal certainty in land transactions.