An empirical study on joint custody of the children born out of wedlock

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K17032
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Civil law
• Research Institution: Kagoshima University
• Principal Investigator: Abe Junichi 鹿児島大学, 法文教育学域法文学系, 准教授 (90735341)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 婚外子 / 非嫡出子 / 親の配慮 / 共同配慮 / 親権 / 配慮憲 / 養子縁組 / 民法

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The German Civil Code(Buergerliches Gesetzbuch) provides joint custody concerning children born out of wedlock, which adopted through the Parentage Law Reform Act in 1997 and amended by the Reform Act in 2013. It is the purpose of this study to analyze the German case law and a report of practical experiences which assessed by the Department of Justice. The new law introduced the simplified procedure into the German Family Procedural Law. In judical practice, this procedure is applied effectively, but so many judges criticize new system because parents are not heard in person. The German experience ought to be instructive for Japanese Family Law which dose not assign joint custody to unmarried parents.

Free Research Field

民事法学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

最新の外国法制の概要や立法動向について紹介する研究が多い中にあって、実際の運用状況の分析を通じて、表面的な制度の外観からは窺い知れない、制度の本質的な意義と課題を明らかにした点に本研究の意義がある。ドイツ法の分析から明らかになった婚外子共同親権法制の立法政策上の意義と課題は、婚外子に対する共同親権制度を持たない日本法及び同制度の導入をめぐる日本の議論に対しても重要な示唆を含むものである。