著作・メディア
Civil Code revisions shamefully long overdue
International Herald Tribune『The Asahi Shimbun』
Monday,March 27,2006
（ウェブ掲載にあたり、『朝日新聞』の許諾を得ています。）
It has been 10 years since the Legislative Council,an advisory panel to the justice minister,submitted a report recommending a revision to the Civil Code to abolish discrimination against women and children.The February 1996 report called for the introduction of a system to give married couples the option to use separate surnames and the abolition of discrimination against children born out of wedlock with regard to inheritance rights.
When the recommendation was made,we were hopeful that it would be submitted to an ordinary Diet session in the form of a govermment-proposed bill.
That,however,never happened.Instead,the report met strong opposition from some members of the Liberal Democratic Party.
The failure moved citizens and nongovernmental groups across Japan supporting the revision to hold rallies and lobby various organizations for the submission of the bill the following year.
Back then,the administration was run by the ruling coalition of the LDP,the Social Democratic Party and the now-defunct New Party Sakigake.Hiromu Nonaka,an LDP heavyweight at the time,took the initiative to advance the move.But unfortunately,the LDP failed to reach a consensus,and plans to submit the bill under a government initiative were aborted.
Meanwhile,the SDP and Sakigake continued the fight to propose a bill and get it passed.
Although the Lower House did for a time deliberate on a similar bill proposed by Minshuto(Democratic Party of Japan),all of the submitted bills were scrapped.
Since then,with the exception of the LDP,all major parties have repeatedly submitted bills,all of which have been invariably shelved or scrapped.Consequently,the revision of the Civil Code has yet to take shape.
Personally,I think the LDP is the most to blame.Still,moves within the party to recognize the use of separate surnames by married couples became increasingly active in 2001 to 2002.
According to a public opinion poll conducted by the Cabinet Office in May 2001,65 percent of respondents supported the idea to allow married couples to use separate surnames.
In response to such trends,in July 2002,some LDP lawmakers,including those who held key government posts,formed"a society to realize separate surnames for married couples as an exception."But again,the attempt to pass a bill was thwarted by opponents.
Signatories to conventions of the United Nations are legally bound to put their provisions into practice by revising domestic laws.
Japan,too,has ratified various U.N.conventions but because of its negligence to promptly meet its obligation to change domestic legislation to accommodate them,it has been a target of U.N.admonition in several areas.
Specifically,in addition to its failure to recognize separate surnames for married couples,Japan has been advised by the U.N.Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women(CEDAW),which monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,to change its legislation that sets a marriage ban period that applies only to divorced women and a difference in minimum marriage age between men and women.
Furthermore,with regard to limiting the inheritance rights of children born out of wedlock,Japan has been urged to abolish the discriminatory practice by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Human Rights Committee in addition to CEDAW.
As if to respond to such moves,in Octobber 2004,two out of five justices of the Supreme Court's Petty Bench ruled that"inheritance discrimination against children born out of wedlock"is unconsititutinal.
In addition,the presiding judge also expressed"strong expectations for prompt revision of the law."
Last year,South Korean lawmakers voted to abolish the family headship system,which is based on the idea that men are superior to women.
In January 2005,Thailand,where married women were required to take on their husbands'names,changed its law to allow married couples to use separate surnames.
Turkey,which had previously been singled out along with Japan,revised its related law in 2001.
Japan,then,is about the only country that forces married couples to use the same surname.
Likewise,Japan and the Phillippines are said to be the only countries whose civil codes spell out discrimination against children born out of wedlock with regard to inheritance.
UNICEF cites Japan's discriminatory practice as one of the six most common forms of discrimination against children.Internationally,countries are doing away with the idea of determining whether children are"legitimate"or not depending on their birth status.But how many Japanese Dietmen are aware of this global trend?
This year,the government is required to submit a report to CEDAW for screening.If Japan sereously wants to be regarded as an honorable member of international society,it is time it changes its discreminatory domestic laws to meet international standards.Otherwise,it could be labeled a backward country as far as human rights are concerned.