Unregistered kids to be provided services

The Japan Times
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Source: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070424a5.html

Kyodo News -- The health ministry has notified municipal authorities across the country to provide subsidies and medical checks to families with unregistered children, ministry officials said Monday.

The notice was issued following disputes over a controversial Civil Code provision that regards a baby born within 300 days after the mother's divorce as having been fathered by the ex-husband even if the biological father is another man.

Because of this, some couples have chosen not to register their children in the family registry.

The notification, issued by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in late March, says children "can receive administrative services even without a family registry or residency registry."

"It does not mean we have shown a new legal interpretation," a ministry official said. "We have given the same answer when we are asked."

But the ministry issued the notice "because there is a possibility that a municipality can be mishandling the matter due to a lack of notification," the official said.

The notice concerns subsidies given to families with children, medical checks on newborns and enrollment in nurseries, among other aid.

In the case of a subsidy given to families with children, there are no requirements for children's residency or family registry to begin with, according to the ministry. Families can receive them if they meet certain requirements, including a parent's income.

In the case of a subsidy given to a single mother, however, a copy of the family registry or residency registry for her and her children is normally needed to show her parental relationship.

The Japan Times
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MOFA to issue passports to children born in post-divorce twilight zone

The Mainichi Shimbun
April 21, 2007
Source: http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070421p2a00m0na013000c.html

After consulting with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has decided to issue passports to children left without family registers due to a Civil Code article on births occurring after divorces, officials said.

The Passport Law stipulates that those applying for passports must submit a copy of their family registers. But Article 772 of the Civil Code states that children born within 300 days of a divorce are presumed to be offspring of the mother's former husband; and therefore, some women cannot register such children as the offspring of their new husbands, leaving them without passports.

Now the Foreign Ministry plans to change the law so that children who meet certain conditions can receive passports without family registers, as long as they can prove they have Japanese nationality and that they are not the offspring of their mothers' former husbands.

Masae Ido, of the Parental Law Revision Research Group, said that many will be helped by the ministry's decision.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has already told local governments that children without family registers are entitled to child allowances and other governmental benefits although they cannot submit a copy of family registers. (Mainichi)

April 21, 2007

Govt to issue passports to nonregistered children

The Yomiuri Shimbun
April 21, 2007
Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070421TDY01004.htm

The government has tentatively decided to issue passports to children not entered in family registers because of Civil Code regulations treating a child born within 300 days of a divorce as the former husband's child, it was learned Friday.

According to sources, as long as certain conditions are satisfied, such as being able to prove a parent-child relationship with a mother possessing Japanese nationality, the government will in principle issue passports to such children. The government will revise the Foreign Ministry's relevant ordinances in mid-May at the earliest to enact the decision, the sources said.

Under the current system, a person seeking a passport is obliged to submit a copy of a family register or the appropriate section from it. The existing regulations have meant that to date the government has not issued a passport to anyone not entered in a family register.

Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Justice Minister Jinen Nagase have discussed the matter and are said to have agreed the government will issue a passport if the following conditions are met:

-- Legal proceedings are undertaken to reverse the Civil Code assumption that the child is that of the former husband.

-- There are humanitarian reasons for the child to travel overseas before they have been entered into the family register.

Under the revised system, when a prefectural passport center receives a request made on behalf of a child who satisfies the conditions, it will ask a relevant regional legal affairs bureau for confirmation of whether the child's mother is a Japanese national. A passport will be issued if the legal affairs bureau is able to confirm a mother-child relationship with a birth certificate issued by a doctor present at the delivery or similar documentation.

According to the Foreign Ministry, 12 such people in eight prefectures including Tokyo have requested passports. In one case, a high school girl in Shiga Prefecture has requested a passport to participate in a school trip overseas.

(Apr. 21, 2007)

Ministry OKs welfare payments for children without family registers

The Mainichi Shimbun
April 13, 2007
Source: http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070413p2a00m0na016000c.html

Children left without family registers due to an article in Japan's Civil Code on births occurring after divorces are entitled to child allowances and other benefits, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has told local government bodies.

The ministry sent a message to local bodies, telling them that it was possible to provide welfare services to children under welfare laws. It is the first concrete measure by the ministry to help such children.

Article 772 of Japan's Civil Code states that children born within 300 days of a divorce are presumed to be the offspring of the woman's former husband. This has prevented some women from registering children born after divorces as the offspring of their new husbands, and left the children without family registers.

In the past, complaints have been made that children without family registers have been unable to receive free medical care, putting a great financial burden on families. The ministry's order responds to this claim. If the ministry's instructions are widely implemented, most welfare disadvantages for children without family registers will disappear, although the children will still be unable to obtain passports or register marriages.

The ministry's notice, dated March 22, said children who were born within 300 days of a divorce and had no family registers were entitled to receive child allowances, acceptance into nurseries, and maternal and child health services such as health examinations.

Under the law on child allowances, there are no stipulations on children's domiciles as a condition for payment, so the ministry judged that allowances could be paid to children based on their living conditions and upbringing. A stipulation on child-care allowances for dependents states that the children must have a domicile in Japan, but the ministry said in its notice that the children were entitled to benefits if they were residing in Japan.

Based on the notice, one girl in Saitama Prefecture who has been without a family register for over two years since her birth is set to be paid an allowance, and she will be given a free vaccine shot.

"The ministry sent the notice to confirm that there is no problem with the children receiving services even if they don't have family registers or resident certificates," a ministry official said. (Mainichi)

April 13, 2007