Japan's parliament on Friday passed a bill to introduce joint custody for divorced couples with children, in a landmark change that paves the way for the adoption of a practice widely used in other nations.
In the first law change regarding parental authority in 77 years, Japan's Civil Code will permit divorced parents to choose either sole custody or joint custody, a shift from the current system that has only allowed custody by one parent -- usually the mother.
The change comes as family relationships diversify in Japan amid a rise in couples splitting and eagerness by both parents to play a role in child-rearing. The current system has also posed challenges for foreign citizens seeking to maintain ties with their children if their divorced partners return to Japan with them.
About 160,000 minors in Japan experienced the divorce of their parents in 2022 alone, double the figure in 1950.
The revised law will enter into force within two years of its promulgation and be applied retroactively to those who have already divorced.
Under the revised Civil Code, parents will generally determine between themselves whether to opt for sole or joint custody, but if there is a dispute, a family court will intervene and decide on custody arrangements.
In cases where domestic violence and abuse by one of the parents is suspected, the other parent will have sole custody.
Proponents of the joint custody system say the revision allows both divorced parents to take part in child-rearing, but victims of domestic violence have voiced concern that the new system could hinder them from severing ties with their abusers as it would maintain connections to their former spouses.
Some also fear such victims may not be able to negotiate single custody or joint custody on an equal footing.
To address such concerns, the bill was modified during parliamentary deliberations to add a clause that calls for considering measures to "confirm the true intention" of each parent, but critics argue the government measures to protect domestic violence victims are too vague.
The new system will be reviewed five years after the revision come into force.
Under joint custody, consensus between parents is not required in making decisions on day-to-day matters, such as what to feed children and whether to vaccinate them.
Parents must reach consensus on important matters such as education and long-term medical treatment, but if they cannot do so in time in an urgent situation, one of the parents can decide on their own.
To avoid ambiguity in what would constitute an urgent situation, the government plans to provide clear examples.
The revision also includes measures against unpaid child support that will oblige a parent to provide minimum payments even if no agreement is reached upon divorce.
The new custody system is expected to increase the burden on family courts in Japan as they will play the role of ultimate arbiter for parents in complex situations in terms of child custody, such as judging whether domestic violence is involved.
Critics question whether family courts possess enough manpower to handle additional duties, with the number of cases filed with family courts rising to about 1.14 million in 2022, up nearly 300,000 from 2012, according to judicial statistics.
Prior to the revision, Japan had been the only country among the Group of Seven industrialized nation with no joint custody system, according to a Justice Ministry survey of other countries released in 2020.
Discussion of Japan's sole custody system emerged partly in response to global criticism over parental abduction cases involving Japanese spouses who took children away from foreign partners after the failure of marriages and made it difficult for the foreign parent to see their children in Japan.
Japan joined in 2014 an international treaty to help settle cross-border child custody disputes. But in 2020, the European Parliament adopted a resolution urging Japan to improve its child custody rules, under which European parents in Japan have little recourse in the event of domestic child abduction by a Japanese spouse.
Related coverage:
Japan lower house OKs bill to allow joint custody after divorce
Japan enforces law tackling outdated rules on paternity after divorce
