ANALISIS YURIDIS PERTIMBANGAN HAKIM DALAM PENYELESAIAN SENGKETA HARTA GONO-GINI (Studi Pada Pengadilan Agama Kota Malang)

This research stems from the issue of marital property division following divorce, which often leads to legal disputes especially when there is an imbalance in the contributions made by the husband and wife during the marriage. Although Articles 36 and 37 of the Marriage Law and the Compilation of Islamic Law (KHI) serve as legal references, they do not offer clear and uniform technical guidelines for implementation. This study aims to examine how judges at the Religious Court of Malang City consider facts revealed during the trial and to what extent they apply ijtihad in delivering fair judgments. Using an empirical legal research approach, this study collects data through interviews and analysis of court decisions to understand how the law is applied in practice. The findings indicate that judges do not rely solely on written laws but also take into account the origin of the disputed assets and the material and non-material contributions of each party. However, in certain cases such as the division of joint debts, decisions remain rigid often defaulting to an equal (50:50) split despite one party, typically the wife, contributing more financially. Therefore, judges are encouraged to be more flexible and to use ijtihad proportionally so that their rulings reflect substantive justice. On the other hand, legal practitioners should strengthen the evidence of their client’s contributions so that the division of assets is not only legally fair but also socially just.