The Law for Parking Haphazardly in Front of a Neighbor's House

PERTANYAAN

I live in a housing complex/ residential complex in Jakarta. In front of my house, there lives a government official who owns 3 cars, even though his garage can only fit 1 car, so 2 of his other cars are parked in front of his house. Since the width of the road is generally only suitable for 2 cars, every time I want to get in and go out by my car, I have to ask him to move his cars first. If I have a business early at dawn, that family has not yet woken up, so I have to wait for about an hour before I can drive my car out of my garage. This made me feel very uncomfortable. I have asked my neighbor not to park in front of my house, but my neighbor is even more fierce because he feels that he has a position as a government official, while I am just an ordinary citizen. I’ve tried through the neighborhood, but there is also no result. I intend to take legal action. So, what legal measures should I take? Thank you.

INTISARI JAWABAN

Your neighbor’s act of parking haphazardly in front of your house, which causes your access to and from your house to be blocked, can be said to have violated your subjective rights and the principle of propriety in neighborly life. The legal action that can be taken is a civil lawsuit, namely an unlawful act.

Please read the review below for a further explanation.

ULASAN LENGKAP

This article is an English translation of Hukumnya Parkir Sembarangan di Depan Rumah Tetangga which was written by Bernadetha Aurelia Oktavira, S.H., and was published on Friday, 10 February 2023.

This article below is an update of the article entitled If You Feel Disadvantaged by Neighbour for Parking His Car in Front of Your House (Jika Dirugikan Tetangga yang Memarkir Mobilnya di Depan Rumah), which was written by Letezia Tobing, S.H., M.Kn., and was first published on Friday, 2 November 2012.

All legal informations which are available through Klinik hukumonline.com have been prepared for educational purposes only and are general in nature (read the complete Disclaimer). In order to obtain legal advice specific to your case, please consult with Justika Partner Consultant.

Shared Pathway Use

Previously, we need to elaborate on the provision in Article 27 section (1) 1945 Constitution that all citizens are equal before the law and government and are obliged to uphold the law and government without any exception. Therefore, you and your neighbor who is a government official are equal before the law, and therefore must respect each other's rights and obligations.

Regarding the pathway in front of the house, if you refer to Article 671 Civil Code, it states as follows.

Footpaths, alleys, or roads that belong to the community and several neighbors, which are used for mutual/joint exits, may not be moved, damaged, or used for purposes other than the stated purposes, except with the permission of all concerned.

Therefore, it is your right to use the road/pathway in front of your house. If your neighbor wants to use the road in order to park his cars, he should first ask permission from the neighbors, because he who parks haphazardly can make you and your other neighbors uncomfortable, as accesses to your houses are blocked.

Unlawful Act Lawsuit

For the inconvenience caused by the act of parking in front of your house, if the familial method (for dispute resolution) does not work, you may consider taking legal action in the form of a civil lawsuit to ask for compensation for the unlawful act. It is regulated in Article 1365 Civil Code that any act that violates the law and brings harm/disadvantage to another person, requires the person who incurs the loss due to his/her fault to compensate for the loss.

Summarized from the article entitled Examples of Unlawful Acts and the Basis for the Lawsuit, the elements of unlawful acts are:[1]

1. The existence of unlawful acts;
2. The existence of errors;
3. The existence of losses; and
4. The existence of a cause-and-effect relationship between unlawful acts, errors, and losses.

Unlawful acts are any acts that:

1. Contrary to the offender's legal obligations;
2. Contrary to the subjective rights of others;
3. Contrary to decency;
4. Contrary to propriety, accuracy, and prudence which should be owned by a person in association with fellow citizens or towards the property of others.

Therefore, according to our opinion, your neighbor who parks in front of your house has violated your subjective right as the owner of the house to be able to have in-and-out access from the house comfortably, and whenever you want without any interference.

In addition, your neighbor has also violated the principle of propriety that exists in the community, because in the neighborly life, it has become common sense that it is not allowed to commit an act that can disadvantage the neighbors. In this case, you feel that you are being disadvantaged in terms of time because you have to wait for your neighbor to move his cars.

In order to be sued for unlawful acts, your neighbor's act of parking haphazardly in front of your house must fulfill the elements above. You must also prove any losses/disadvantages that you have suffered as a result of your neighbor's action. For example, you came late to a place and this is detrimental to you.

Case Study

To ease your understanding, we will give you an example of a case, which is some people who park in front of a person's house, that has been stipulated through the Decision of the District Court of Surabaya Number 839/Pdt.G/2016/PN.Sby.

According to the Plaintiff's lawsuit, it is an unlawful act that essentially states that the Defendants parked their car in front of the Plaintiff's house and disadvantaged the Plaintiff because it became difficult to drive the Plaintiff's car from and into the house (p. 3).

In fact, to enter the Plaintiff’s and the Defendants’ (Defendant I and II) yards, they can only use the same entrance. Thus, if the Plaintiff is going to enter the yard of his house, he must pass through the only access door and must also pass through the yard of the house of Defendant I and II. On the other hand, Defendant I and II, who are going to enter their yards, must also pass through the only entrance and have to pass through the Plaintiff’s yard (pp. 17-18).

Therefore, for the mutual interest between the Plaintiff and the Defendants, the panel of judges has determined certain schedules for parking and crossing areas as follows (p. 20).

1. For Monday to Friday:

1. Morning: from 07.00 West Indonesian Time (zone) until 08.00 West Indonesian Time (zone);
2. Afternoon: from 16.00 West Indonesian Time (zone) to 17:00 West Indonesian Time (zone);

 

2. For Saturdays, customs prior to the decision of this case apply, which is to tell each other if they are going to park or move their vehicles;
3. For Sunday, morning: 07.00 West Indonesian Time (zone) to 08.00 West Indonesian Time (zone);
4. Besides the hours which have been determined by the panel of judges, the Plaintiff and Defendants must notify each other if the parties are going to park or move their vehicles.

In addition, parties who are notified/received notification either directly or by telephone or doorbell, immediately must move their vehicles out of the carport area of the parking lot for a maximum of 10 minutes (pp. 20-21).

So, in answer to your question, in our opinion, the case of parking in front of people's houses as you experienced can be settled through a civil lawsuit, which is an unlawful act.

These are the answers we can provide, we hope you will find them useful.

Legal Basis:

1. The 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia;
2. Indonesian Civil Code.

Court Decision:

Decision of the District Court of Surabaya Number 839/Pdt.G/2016/PN.Sby.

Reference:

Wirjono Prodjodikoro, Perbuatan Melanggar Hukum, Cet. V, Bandung: Sumur Bandung, 1967.

---

[1] Wirjono Prodjodikoro, Perbuatan Melanggar Hukum, Cet. V, Bandung: Sumur Bandung, 1967, p. 16.