2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Comparative studies between Britain and Japan on the laws relating to Gender Identity Disorder from perspective of family relationship
| Project/Area Number |
18530006
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Section | 一般 |
|---|
| Research Field |
Fundamental law
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Niigata University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
TAMAKI Teiko Niigata University, Institute of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR (80251784)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2006 – 2007
|
| Keywords | Gender Identity Disorder / special rules regarding sex status 2003 / Gender Recognition Act 2004 / gender alteration / change / no child requirement / Gender Reassignment Surgery / order of family relationship / Japan vs. England and Wales |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
1. Having conducted a research on comparative studies of laws relating to gender alteration/change for transsexual persons between Japan and Britain (i.e. England and Wales) from previous year it has become clear that the two requirements namely "no child requirement" and "gender reassignment surgery requirement", are only found in the Japanese law (the "special Law"). The differences of the two laws are derived from historical and cultural aspects of transsexual person and a notion of gender identity disorder (GID) itself such as perceptions of the terms relating to GID and people in societies that Britain has been received much broader consensus comparing to Japan due to its accumulated court decisions for instance.
2. While the "special Law" refers to a review of the Law around after 3 years of its enactment, which means sometime in July 2007, no major action seemed to have been taken on the contrary to enormous interest and expectation of the parties of GID. Therefore, I have conduc
… More
ted a further research on how one can review the very condition of "no child requirement" in the scope of present rules of Japanese law.
3. Referring to the social circumstances and legal systems for GID issues in other countries particularly Britain, I have focused on the point that how the issue in terms of parent and child relationship is regarded. It is observed that a thought that does not restrict parent's gender as what it was originally stated but regard parent as "parent" at anytime is reflected in the English law (GRA 2004). Moreover, "parental responsibility" explains a function and a role as being a parent in English law, and that it is not confined to the child's biological parents but can be granted to others when it is in need for the child. Therefore, it is possible to apply the "parental responsibility" in considering what "family relationship order" actually means in the above context of gender alteration/change of GID parent. That is to convert the requirement to "a child under 20", because it is stated that a child is in the custody of parents until 20 in the Civil Code, and for a case with a child of under 20, it should allow the party to ask Family Court for a further investigation and approval, because some of the cases would be found that the GID parent has no contact with the child and thus s/he is not in a position to exercise the "parental responsibility".
4. The study result was presented at the Tenth Annual Meeting of Japanese Society of Gender Identity Disorder (Osaka, 15-16th March 2008). Less
|
Research Products
(6 results)
