Revisions to bill on children born after divorces to be deferred

Mainichi Daily News
April 11, 2007
Source: http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070411p2a00m0na005000c.html

A bill to revise article 772 of Japan's Civil Code, which states that children born within 300 days of a divorce are presumed to be offspring of the mother's former husband, is unlikely to be submitted to the Diet during the current session, ruling coalition sources said.

A ruling party project team had been discussing revisions to the article. However, some Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) legislators are hesitant to submit the bill and top party officials have deemed that more debate is necessary.

Ruling coalition partner Komeito, which has actively pursued the introduction of new legislation, is likely to accept the decision not to immediately submit the bill.

The ruling party project team will discuss details of the bill in a working group, but the LDP is unlikely to accept the bill during the current Diet session.

In a legal affairs committee meeting on Tuesday, Komeito approved the framework for the bill, but the LDP's resistance to its immediate submission means the two parties are out of step on their positions on the bill. (Mainichi)