Family Court of Japan

Abstract

Abstract

        As we all know that the domestic dispute cases and juvenile cases have a great negative impact against the domestic relations in the disputed family; therefore, the dispute can not be settled alone by adjudication proceeding because it may not solve the problems but rather aggravated the family problems. For this reason, many countries prefer to establish their own Family Court in order to settle domestic disputes such as divorce cases, inheritance cases and juvenile cases. In this regard, Japan has established its own Family Court since the end of the Second World War in order to settle domestic disputes of Japanese families. The Family Court of Japan has not only jurisdiction in domestic relations cases but also juvenile cases. In domestic relations, the Court can apply conciliation procedure as the first step unless the conciliation procedure failed; consequently, the court shall apply adjudication procedure instead. Similarly in juvenile cases, it is essential to give consideration to the protection of juveniles by providing an amicable and cordial settlement for juvenile delinquents in one hand, and encouraging them in the other hand to understand the consequences of their own delinquency and not to repeat their malicious conduct thereafter. Therefore, the Court must have many qualified officers and experts to treat juvenile delinquents properly such as family court investigating officers, doctors of court clinic, phycologist, sociologist, educator, experts on domestic and juvenile delinquency etc.

Keywords: Family Court of Japan, Domestic Relations Cases, Juvenile Cases, Determination Procedure, Conciliation Procedure