社説:無戸籍の人 法を見直し抜本救済を

August 19, 2014(Mainichi Japan)
Editorial: Time to aid residents without family records
社説:無戸籍の人　法を見直し抜本救済を

In Japan there exist a number of adults who have been left without family register records because their parents have failed to register their births. The government does not have a grasp of the situation, and the exact number of such people remains unknown, but private support groups receive roughly 100 inquiries a year.
　出生届が出されず、戸籍がないまま成人した人たちがいる。国は実態を把握しておらず、具体的な人数は不明だが、民間支援団体には年間１００件もの相談がある。

Recently, the Ministry of Justice sent notification to regional legal affairs bureaus across the nation and initiated its first investigation into the problem. It is wrong for children to be left struggling in society simply because their parents, dealing with particular circumstances, failed to submit birth notifications. We hope the ministry's investigation will be the first step in providing relief.
法務省はこのほど、全国の法務局に通知し、初めての実態調査に乗り出した。親の事情で出生届が出せず、そのしわ寄せを子供が受けるのはおかしい。調査を救済の一歩にしてもらいたい。

The problem has been partially fuelled by a stipulation in the Civil Code that when a woman gives birth, the person who was the woman's husband at the time she was pregnant is deemed to be the father. Any child born within 300 days of a divorce, therefore, is presumed to be the child of the woman's former husband.
　無戸籍の人が生まれる背景には、民法のきまりがある。子供を産んだ母親が妊娠した時の夫を父親とする「嫡出推定」の規定だ。離婚後３００日以内に生まれた子供も「前夫の子」と推定される。

Because of this, if a woman flees her husband due to violence or other such reasons, and meets another man and gives birth without first settling her marriage relationship, it is apparently not uncommon for that woman to refrain from registering the child's birth.
　このため、夫の暴力などが原因で逃げ出した妻が、婚姻関係の解消ができないまま別の男性と知り合い、出産した場合、出生届を出さないことが少なくないとされる。

There are also times when a woman gets pregnant with another man's child before her divorce is finalized, and after the child is born takes measures to avoid her former husband being registered as the father under the 300-day rule.
　また、離婚の成立前に夫以外の男性との間で妊娠した女性が出産後、「３００日規定」を理由に前夫の子供とされるのを避ける場合もある。

Of course, such problems can be overcome through arbitration and court rulings, but it is often a great burden for each side to meet face to face.
　もちろん、調停や裁判で解決できるが、そうした場で相手と顔を合わせること自体が大きな負担になる。

If a person has no family register, they cannot prove their age. Accordingly, they cannot vote, and are unable to obtain a driver's license or a passport. There are apparently a significant number of people who are also unable to obtain resident cards.
　戸籍がなければ、年齢の証明ができず、選挙権が認められない、運転免許やパスポートも取得できない。無戸籍の人の中には、住民票もない人が少なくないようだ。

This leaves them in a worse situation, in which they are left out from being notified about entry into public schools while their families remain ineligible to receive administrative services and benefits, such as child welfare allowances.
そうなれば、公立学校への就学案内が届かなかったり、児童手当など行政サービスが受けられなかったりという実生活上の不利益はさらに大きい。

It is possible for local bodies to create resident cards at their own discretion even if a person does not have a family register, but this fact has not been sufficiently publicized.
　住民票は、戸籍がなくても自治体の判断で作成が可能だが、そうしたことが十分に周知されてこなかったのは確かだ。

The Ministry of Justice is said to be seeking the cooperation of municipalities in its investigation. We hope that it will release its findings.
法務省は、市区町村にも調査への協力を求めるという。調査結果はぜひ公表してもらいたい。

The Justice Ministry also sent out notification encouraging local officials to explain the administrative services that people without family register records can access under certain conditions.
　法務省は、無戸籍の人が一定の要件で受けられる行政サービスについて説明を尽くすよう通知もした。

Naturally, a careful explanation of the procedures is necessary, but the ministry should also think about drastic legal revisions that prevent people being left without family register records.
もちろん、手続きの丁寧な説明は必要だが、無戸籍の人を生まない抜本的な法律の見直しを考えるべきだ。

In today's society, divorce and remarriage have increased, and family relationships are often complicated.
　現代社会では、離婚や再婚も増え、家族関係が複雑化している。

Violence toward spouses has also risen, with some 50,000 incidents recorded each year.
配偶者による暴力も増加し年間５万件に上る。

In such circumstances, it is hard to say that the Civil Code stipulations on presuming paternity fit in with the times.
そうした中で、妊娠時の夫を父とする嫡出推定の規定が時代に合っているとは言い難い。

Just last month, cases that questioned paternity on the grounds of DNA tests were heard in a Supreme Court appeal and presumed paternity emerged as a focus of the hearings. Four of the five justices submitted individual opinions stating a need for legislation.
　先月、ＤＮＡ型鑑定をめぐって父子関係を争い、嫡出推定の規定が焦点になった訴訟の上告審で、５人中４人の最高裁裁判官が個別意見で法整備の必要性に言及したのは記憶に新しい。

In 2007 the Tokyo Bar Association drafted a revision to the Civil Code under which presumed paternity would not apply if the space for the father's details was left blank when registering the child's birth, releasing this draft as a statement of its position.
　東京弁護士会は２００７年、戸籍の父欄が空白の出生届が出された場合、嫡出推定が及ばないとする民法改正試案をまとめ、意見書として公表した。

The Legislative Council of the Ministry of Justice should begin full-scale deliberation of such methods discussing ways to presume paternity of a child.
こうした方法を含め、父親の推認法について法制審議会などの場で本格的に議論すべきだ。

毎日新聞　2014年08月19日　02時31分