Japan formally approves Hague Treaty

[JuliRosi]

NHK World
Japan formally approves Hague Treaty

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140124_33.html                                                                                                             
 
An international treaty governing child custody disputes will take effect in Japan on April 1st.

 The Japanese government officially endorsed membership of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction on Friday.
 The Diet approved the step last year.

 The convention sets rules to settle child custody disputes arising from failed international marriages.  It allows a parent to seek the return of a child taken to another country by the other parent without consent.

 Under Japanese law, family courts in Tokyo and Osaka will handle the repatriation trials.  The courts can separate a child from a parent who disobeys a transfer order.

 But the transfer can be lawfully rejected in certain cases, including when the other parent is abusive.

 The Foreign Ministry is preparing to create a central office to contact and coordinate with foreign governments and courts.

 Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that joining the international treaty is a significant move for Japan, and it will work to implement the rules appropriately.
Jan. 24, 2014 - Updated 07:03 UTC

[JuliRosi]

Japan to finally be compliant with Hague Convention on child abduction in April 2014

http://japandailypress.com/japan-to-finally-be-compliant-with-hague-convention-on-child-abduction-in-april-2014-2338345/
 
Japan to finally be compliant with Hague Convention on child abduction in April 2014
Oct 23, 2013                                     
John Hofilena                                                                                                     

                                 
The Japanese government is set to finally comply with the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction on April 1, 2014. Japan has taken the brunt of criticism from the United States and other European countries of being a “safe haven” for international child abductions. The treaty, currently with 89 signatories, has laid down rules and procedures for the prompt return to the country of habitual residence of children under the age of 16 taken to another country, if requested by the other parent. Japan’s compliance of the treaty will enter into force on the first day of the third calendar month after the instrument of accession is deposited with the Dutch Foreign Ministry.
In May of this year, the Diet had formally approved the Japan’s compliance to the treaty, being that the country was the only one in the Group of Eight (G8) that wasn’t compliant to the Hague Convention. The Japanese Parliament also enacted a law in June stipulating domestic implementation procedures for the Hague treaty. Under the legislation, a central authority will be set up in the Foreign Ministry to locate children who have been taken away and encourage the people involved to settle the dispute through consultations. If the consultations fail, family courts in Tokyo and Osaka will decide on the child’s treatment. The legislation also allows a parent to refuse to return a child if abuse or domestic violence is feared. The central authority is set to be staffed with lawyers, experts on domestic violence and child psychology counselors. Judges in the family courts of Tokyo and Osaka have also been trained on the Hague convention.
There was strong criticism of Japan’s legal system before the law, because unlike other industrialized countries, Japan’s system does not recognize the concept of joint custody. This resulted in Japanese courts almost always forcing half-Japanese children to live with their mothers, and male parents who live in North America and Europe are then left without any choice – Japanese mothers usually end up with full custody of their children. When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the U.S. in February, the premier promised action and progress on Hague Convention compliance after official meetings with U.S. President Barack Obama.

[JuliRosi]

 
Japanese government to establish guidelines for international divorce disputes
http://japandailypress.com/japanese-government-to-establish-guidelines-for-international-divorce-disputes-2242878/
Jan 22, 2014
John Hofilena                                                                           
                                 
Japan’s Ministry of Justice has made a move to clearly define rules and guidelines for international divorce disputes which are handled by Japan’s family courts, this revealed by sources close to the matter on Tuesday. There has been a clamor for Japan to do this, especially with the increase of child custody disputes between Japanese and non-Japanese couples during divorce. These rules may enable the faster resolution of such issues, the sources claimed.
Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki of the Justice Ministry is set to bring the matter before the Legislative Council at a meeting scheduled for Feb. 7. Sources said that the Japanese government will be taking the necessary legislative steps so that a new law regarding this issue could be implemented as early as 2015. There are rules that govern civil disputes, usually involving Japanese consumers and foreign companies, but no such rules govern disputes in areas usually handled by family courts, such as divorce, probate and child-parent relations. Presently, the family courts decide how to handle specific cases by looking at details of past cases. The resolution of these cases can sometimes take years as the parties involved have to determine whether Japanese courts have jurisdiction over their cases in the first place.
As such, the ministry’s officials are now discussing what cases should be handled by the country’s family courts. As of the moment, currently accepted are those cases where present addresses of defendants are in Japan. There is a lot of support for Japanese courts having jurisdiction over cases in where current addresses of plaintiffs are in Japan and their spouses lived in the country during marriage, as well as in cases in where the addresses of the plaintiffs are in Japan while the whereabouts of the defendants are unknown. Some officials are also proposing to include in Japan’s jurisdiction cases in which only one of the two parties live in Japan.