The second conference on joint custody after divorce Parents and children forced apart after separation or divorce
• When: Tuesday Feb 17, 2009 from 13:00 – 14:30
• Where: The first conference room, the Number Two Members Office Building of the House of Representatives. (Daiichi Kaigishitsu, Shugiin Daini Giin Kaikan)
Program
Speech from left-behind parents
Ren Mochizuki---His child was removed and kept by his ex-wife. After his wife registered his child under her new husband’s family registry, Mochizuki has been denied all access to his child. His wife filed for a restraining order.
Keiko Ukai---Her Iranian husband took her 4 year-old-daughter to Iran without Ukai’s consent. She followed her daughter and lived in Iran for about two yeas. Ukai could not bring her daughter back to Japan, but reunited with her last November after a two-year separation.
Keynote Speech
Colin P.A. Jones---A US lawyer and Professor at Doshisha University Law School in Kyoto, Japan. “ Divorce situation in Japan from the international perspective---child abduction and refusal of visitation.”
• Admission: 1,000 yen
In Japan, it is common that a parent who takes her or his children away first gets custody, and then denies visitation rights of the other parent. On the contrary, taking children away without the other parent’s consent is a crime in other countries where the legal systems allow separated parents to share parenting of their children (joint custody or co-parenting system.) “Why are you forbidden to see your child?”---People ask left behind parents such a question, because they assume that the estranged parents are responsible for this situation. Yet, instead of blaming who is responsible for the separation, the children’s best interest should be considered first. We have to separate the issue of parents and children from that of couples. An idea that has supported a sole custody system after divorce only justifies the Japanese legal system failing to enforce the visitation rights. The Japanese custody system is far behind other countries where the legal presumption is for joint custody after divorce. Since, every one of four children in Japan experience their parents’ divorce today, we need to understand how the Japanese divorce system is problematic and to discuss the importance of establishing a better legal system.
Presented by The Oyako-Net (The Nationwide Network For Realizing Visitation in Japan)