|
|
Govt changes child registry rules for divorcees
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Apr. 7, 2007
Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070407TDY03004.htm
The Justice Ministry plans to recognize children born after their mother's divorce as legitimate children of the mother's new spouse, as long as the parents have a conception certificate--proving the mother became pregnant after her divorce--when
recording the children's names in family registers, according to ministry officials.
The plan also states that children born after their mother's divorce will be considered born out of wedlock if their mother remains unmarried and recorded as such in family registers. The ministry will work on the format and contents of the
conception certificate with relevant medical organizations, the officials said.
A provision of the Civil Code stipulates that all children born within 300 days after their mother's divorce are presumed to be the former husband's children. However, if conception certificates confirm that the woman became pregnant after her
divorce, the ministry will recognize the current husband as the legitimate father when the child's birth is registered with the local government, the officials said.
The ministry will possibly send a Civil Affairs Bureau chief's notice to local municipality offices this month, the officials said.
A project team of the ruling party, which is reviewing Provision 772 of the Civil Code, also plans to add a special measure to the ministry's plan. It wants to pass a bill incorporating a measure to recognize such children as belonging to their
mother's new spouse if DNA tests after the birth can prove the father-child relationship, even if the point of conception is unclear. However, the ministry is reluctant to revise the Civil Code and introduce DNA tests to establish paternity. As such,
for the time being, family register conditions will be made more flexible.
After a meeting Thursday, Liberal Democratic Party Policy Research Council Chairman Shoichi Nakagawa and project team Chairman Chuko Hayakawa decided to shelve a plan for the time being to lessen the time frame prohibiting remarriage from 180 days to
100 days after divorce.
"The contraction of the remarriage prohibition days and the introduction of a system to allow married couples to use separate names were part of a package included in the plan to revise the Civil Code. It's not appropriate to separate the contraction
plan," Nakagawa said.
The project team still plans to submit a special bill that includes DNA tests to the current Diet session, but since the ministry has decided to improve part of the family register conditions in the notice it will send to municipalities, the project
team may not press ahead with the bill.
===
Nagase opposes changes
Justice Minister Jinen Nagase expressed his opposition to a special system that would recognize children born even within 300 days of their mother's divorce as the legitimate children of the mother's new husband if confirmed by DNA tests.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference Friday, Nagase said fidelity and sexual morals should be taken into consideration when recognizing such children.
The ruling party is considering a bill that recognizes children born after their mother's divorce as those of the women's current spouse.
"The principle of the Civil Code holds that in the event of a woman becoming pregnant during her marriage, the children [born within 300 days of the divorce] belong to the ex-husband," Nagase said, adding that it is a serious problem to introduce a
framework that runs counter to the law.
"I don't think we have the support of the people for a system that can change the family and marriage systems," he said.
|
