Provisional Minutes of the 24th Meeting of the Family Law Subcommittee of the
Legislative Council (provisional translation)
On March 28, 2023, the 24th meeting of the Family Law Subcommittee of the
Legislative Council was held at the Ministry of Justice (in person and online). Nearly all
the members and non-voting members attended the meeting. The Chairman, Prof.
OMURAAtsushi, presided over the meeting.
The Subcommittee members started to review and deliberate the pending issues
regarding divorce and the relevant systems for the third round, referring to the previous
discussions, the opinions received when the public comments were invited and the results
of the interviews. During the meeting, the Subcommittee discussed the following issues
based on the meeting materials.
First, the Subcommittee discussed whether general rules concerning the responsibilities
of parents with a minor child should be established, and many members and non-voting
members agreed that such rules should be established. It was also suggested that they
need to further discuss the details of such rules, including the pending issues such as
whether parents are responsible for "parenting" or "supporting" a child, and whether rules
concerning the rights of parents in addition to the "duties" and "responsibilities" of
parents should be established.
Second, they discussed the provision of information when parents get divorced, and
many Subcommittee members and non-voting members suggested that parenting classes
for divorced parents can be beneficial; thus, it is continuously necessary to encourage
divorced parents to take such classes. Nevertheless, although there was such a comment
that they should consider the possibility of making parenting classes a basic requirement
for divorce by agreement, many other members and non-voting members commented that
such rules should not be established.
In addition, as a measure to improve the effectiveness of the rules concerning child
support payments, the Subcommittee discussed adding general liens to the right to claim
child support payments and that such rights are subordinated to wage liens , and many
Subcommittee members and non-voting members supported these opinions. In response,
it was suggested that it is continuously necessary to examine the scope of claims to which
priority should be given and how to ensure opportunities for debtors to follow the
procedures.
Furthermore, as a rule concerning court proceedings for child custody arrangements,
they discussed the possibility of establishing a rule for imposing the duty to disclose
information on parents’ income, and many Subcommittee members and non-voting
members supported the opinion that an obligation to disclose information under the
procedural law should be established. There were also opinions that not only cases for
adjudication of domestic relations and personal status litigation but also family
conciliation cases should be included in the types of procedures that must be disclosed. It
was also suggested that the Subcommittee should further discuss what sanctions should
be imposed when violation of a disclosure obligation occurs.
At the end of the meeting, as to the said rules, the Subcommittee discussed stipulating
factors to be considered on equitable distribution of property. However, due to time
constraints, this issue will be discussed in the next meeting.
The Subcommittee is to study and deliberate the pending issues for the third time in
the next and subsequent meetings.
※(注記)These provisional minutes are the summarized results of the subcommittee meeting and are to be
provided by the Secretariat of the Subcommittee in both Japanese and English on an as-needed
basis. The official meeting minutes (in Japanese) will be published at a later date.