The Best Interest of the Child Standard in the Context of Contact, with a Focus on Step-families

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K17017
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Civil law
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: ROOTS Maia 東北大学, 法学研究科, 准教授 (20754550)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 面会交流 / ステップファミリー / 子の利益・福祉

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The standard for deciding whether contact between a child and their non-residential parent should be allowed, and to what extent it should be allowed, is decided based on the best interest of the child. As is well know, however, the best interest of the child is an extremely vague standard. This research introduces the theoretical framework proposed by Michael Coester concerning the best interest of the child as a legal concept, concentrating on how the specific contents of the best interest of the child should be determined in individual cases. The specific example of contact with a child living in a step-family will be used to illustrate how case law and scholarly literature have interpreted the best interest of the child. Lastly, the law in Japan concerning step-families in general is analyzed from a comparative perspective and through the prism of research done in fields such as family sociology, to point out the shortcoming of the current system and propose changes.

Free Research Field

民事法