From Private Litigation to Responsive Public Governance: Reconceptualizing Child Support Enforcement through the Principle of Parens Patriae Betra Sarianti (a*), Sinung Mufti Hangabei (a), Riri Tri Mayasari (a) Titi Darmi (b)
a) Faculty of Law, Universitas Muhammadiyah Bengkulu, Jl. Adam Malik Kota Bengkulu 38229
* betrasarianti1[at]gmail.com
b) Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Muhammadiyah Bengkulu, Jl. Adam Malik Kota Bengkulu 38229
Abstract
Indonesia continues to experience a significant increase in divorce cases, resulting in persistent challenges in securing children^s post-divorce maintenance rights. Although courts routinely order child support obligations, their enforcement remains largely ineffective because the existing legal framework treats child maintenance as a private civil dispute, relying almost exclusively on individual execution proceedings initiated by custodial parents. This private-law paradigm has limited the State^s ability to guarantee children^s constitutional rights effectively. While previous studies have primarily examined child support from the perspectives of family law and civil enforcement, limited scholarly attention has been devoted to reconceptualizing child support enforcement through the doctrine of Parens Patriae within the framework of administrative law.
This article aims to develop a conceptual framework that repositions child support enforcement from a private litigation mechanism to a proactive state responsibility based on the doctrine of Parens Patriae. The study employs normative legal research using conceptual, statutory, and comparative approaches to critically examine the limitations of the current enforcement model and to formulate an alternative administrative law framework for protecting children^s rights.
The study argues that the doctrine of Parens Patriae provides a constitutional and administrative foundation for transforming child support enforcement into an affirmative obligation of the State. Under this paradigm, the State is no longer merely a neutral adjudicator but assumes an active responsibility to ensure compliance with child support obligations through accountable and responsive administrative governance. This paradigm strengthens legal certainty, enhances children^s access to justice, and reinforces state responsibility in protecting vulnerable children after divorce. Furthermore, the proposed framework establishes a conceptual basis for future digital governance reforms through integrated public administration and technology-enabled enforcement mechanisms while preserving child maintenance as a constitutional right rather than merely a private financial obligation.
This conceptual contribution advances the development of administrative child protection law by integrating the doctrine of Parens Patriae, responsible governance, and constitutional child rights into a coherent framework for post-divorce child support enforcement.
Keywords: Parens Patriae, Child Support Enforcement, Responsive Public Governance, Post-Divorce Rights, Administrative Child Protection Law.
Topic: Building Adaptive and Digitally-Enabled Public Administrations for Responsive Governance (Adaptive Governance- Digital Public Administration- Responsive Public Service Delivery)
