Japan's justice minister said Thursday the government will prepare a bill based on an expert panel's final report recommending the introduction of joint custody after divorce.
Ryu Koizumi said after receiving the panel report earlier in the day that the government will aim to submit the bill to amend the child custody rules to the current session of parliament.
But there are lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties who are cautious over a shift from the current policy of sole custody to the new arrangement followed by many nations.
Proponents of joint custody argue that the system would enable both parents to be involved in their child's upbringing following divorce, while opponents say it may not necessarily benefit a child in cases where abuse or domestic violence is involved.
The Family Law Subcommittee of the Justice Ministry's Legislative Council recommended in its report that parents decide together on whether they have sole or joint custody of their children, with a family court only intervening if there is a dispute.
If there is suspicion of child abuse by one parent or domestic violence, a family court will choose one of the parents to have sole custody, said the report.
Under joint custody, both parents will together make decisions on crucial matters such as education and medical treatment.
But in an urgent situation where a consensus cannot be reached in time, one of the parents can decide on their own, the report said. A consensus by both parents is also not needed in making decisions on some day-to-day matters, the panel proposed.
The panel proposed to make it mandatory for a parent living apart from the child to pay child support.
Sole custody system has been criticized by some as severing parent-child interactions and leading to nonpayment of child support.
Joint custody of children in the event of divorce is common practice in many other countries, although the arrangements range from country to country, according to legal experts.
The subcommittee also Thursday recommended in its report to introduce electronic arrest warrants and allow ill or disabled defendants to attend their trials remotely through a video link as ways to promote the digitalization of criminal procedures.
If arrest warrants and other papers necessary to conduct investigations and searches are digitalized, investigators would no longer need to go to court to receive the physical documents.
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Japan gov't panel proposes introducing joint custody after divorce
