Photo/Illutration A subcommittee of the Legislative Council at the Justice Ministry on Jan. 30 (Kazumichi Kubota)

The nature of divorce in Japan may be about to change, as proposed legal revisions could, for the first time, allow divorced parents to share joint custody of their children.

Although Japan currently has no joint child custody system for divorced couples, a subcommittee of the Legislative Council, which is an advisory body to the justice minister, compiled a draft outline for revisions to the Civil Law on Jan. 30.

The proposed draft would allow divorced parents to choose between sole or joint custody through mutual agreement. In cases where the parents could not reach an agreement, a family court would decide.

The government plans to submit related bills to the ordinary session of the Diet.

According to a survey by the welfare ministry, around 100,000 couples with minors get divorced annually, impacting roughly 200,000 children each year.

If the bill is enacted, it would mark a significant shift from the current system.

However, there are strong concerns that if one parent has more power, he or she could force the other into joint custody, allowing domestic violence and abuse to continue even after the divorce.

The debate on introducing joint custody will focus on addressing these concerns.

The draft clearly states that parents must respect each other’s personality and cooperate for the benefit of their children, regardless of their marital status.

It proposes to amend the current Civil Law, which stipulates that “married parents” exercise joint custody, so that both the parents would maintain responsibility for their child’s development even after divorce.

Under joint custody, parents should make decisions regarding the child through mutual discussions. However, it would allow for daily matters to be decided by either parent.

In cases of uncontested divorce, which account for nearly 90 percent of divorces, parents would decide on their custody arrangement through discussion.

However, in cases of contested divorce, or where parents fail to agree, the family court would determine custody of the child by considering each parents’ relationship to the child and to one another.

If the involvement of either parent could harm the child’s physical or mental well-being, the family court would grant sole custody to the other parent, considering potential issues such as domestic violence and abuse.

The draft states that even if joint custody were agreed upon, the family court could later award sole custody if deemed necessary for the child, based on the agreement process and changes in circumstances.

In addition, the draft includes a system to secure child support payments. This would allow claims for a certain amount of money even if there had been no agreement at the time of the divorce and would facilitate seizure of assets.

The draft also includes a system enabling the family court to encourage trial interactions during discussions over visitation rights.

The draft does not specify whether this amendment will apply to couples who have already divorced. This issue is expected to be discussed in the future.

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