Women and Justice: Keywords

Among other things, the Children’s Status Act gives children born out of wedlock the same legal privileges as children born to married couples (e.g., inheritance rights, custody, guardianship, etc.) and provides various legal mechanisms (e.g., court orders) to protect these rights.

In this appeal, a child born to unmarried parents appealed the High Court’s finding that a relevant part of the proviso to Article 900.4 of the Japanese Civil Code was not inconsistent with Article 14.1 of the Constitution of Japan, prohibiting discrimination based on race, belief, sex, social status, or lineage. The proviso set forth that the statutory share in inheritance of a child born out of wedlock is half of that of a child in wedlock. The Supreme Court reversed the High Court’s ruling and found that the proviso was inconsistent with Article 14.1 of the Constitution. In making this finding, the Supreme Court took into account the changes in the following, which have been observed since 1947––the year in which the Japanese Civil Code was revised after World War II: Japanese society, forms of family, legislative acts in foreign countries, and relevant Japanese legal frameworks. The Supreme Court noted that, even though the system of civil marriage is strongly respected in Japanese society, society has come to accept the idea that a child should not suffer disadvantages based on a factor that she/he did not cause or could not change––whether to have been born in or out of wedlock––and that a child’s rights need to be protected and she/he must be given respect as an individual.

本件は、非嫡出子の法定相続分が嫡出子の2分の１とした日本民法第900条第4号但書が日本国憲法第14条第1項に抵触しないとした高裁判断を不服とした事案である。最高裁は、高裁の判決を覆し、但書が無効だと判断した。本判決では、戦後の民法改正が行われた昭和22年以降の日本の社会、家族の実態、さらに諸外国の立法例の変化を考慮し、非嫡出子の在り方に対する国民の意識変化を指摘した。また、日本社会では、法律婚を尊重する意識が幅広く浸透しているが、父母が婚姻関係になかったという，子にとっては自ら選択ないし修正する余地のない事柄を理由としてその子に不利益を及ぼすことは許されず，子の権利を保証すベきである考えも確立されてきている。