The Supreme Court is scheduled to hand down a ruling next month on two cases that raise the difficult question of how to legally treat father-child relationships when DNA tests have denied the possibility of blood ties with an accuracy of 99.99 percent.

The July 17 ruling could have far-reaching social impact, since recent advances in medical and biological technologies have rendered some legal provisions obsolete. The top court should issue a ruling that is reasonable enough to convince both parties to the lawsuits and the general public.

The two cases involve a married but separated couple in the Kinki region and a divorced couple in Hokkaido.