Joint Child Custody Is Introduced

A bill for revisioning the Civil Code, which enable divorced parents to share joint child custody, passed the Diet. While the revision is aimed at urging divorced parents responsible for raising their child, it is still concerned that one of the parents may continue domestic violence by keeping family relationship. Family court will decide to apply single child custody in such a case. Thus, right decision of family courts will be essential for protecting a child with divorced parents. 

It was 1898 when the Civil Code under the Meiji government determined single child custody for father. Authority of father in a family was extremely strong in paternal society in the Meiji era. The Civil Code was revised after the World War II when the Constitution of Japan was established, and parents became to share joint child custody as long as they keep their marriage.

 

However, once the parents divorced, the custody belongs to one of the parents. The revised law changes that system with a notion that it is beneficial for a child to be raised by both parents. There are examples in which one of the parents refuses sending money for the cost of raising child. The amendment of the Civil Code is aimed at avoiding such an example happening.

 

When the parents oppose to each other over a decision related to their child under joint child custody, the family court will intervene between them. If the child is in an “urgent situation,” one of the parents can exercise the custody for the interest of the child.

 

One of the points of discussion was what would be included in “urgent situation.” In a case that a mother and her child suffer from father’s frequent violence or abuse, separating them from father with mother’s single child custody should be necessary measure in an urgent situation.

 

Choosing school or college may be another case of urgent situation, because the decision needs to be made immediately after passing the entrance examination. Surgery for abortion also is a case of urgent situation, because a time limit for abortion, if necessary, is set in a law.

 

A parent with single child custody can also make ordinary decisions such as choosing food and clothes, allowing part time job for high-school student, taking prescript pills, traveling to overseas or having vaccination.

 

There is a concern whether a family court can properly decide to offer single child custody for every case. Domestic violence, for instance, is invisible for anyone out of the family in most cases. There are a number of cases in which even the experts of protecting children in the child consultation center could not find fatal abuse on little child. It is necessary for the family courts to establish a system to share information with local governments to make proper decision on child custody.

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