The Legislative Council of the Justice Ministry earlier this month submitted an outline of domestic bills related to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction to Justice Minister Toshio Ogawa. The government plans to submit a bill to approve Japan's joining the convention and bills to establish a system in Japan to implement the convention to the Diet by the end of March.
If Japan joins the convention, it is expected that there will be more cases in which Japanese parents will have to return their children to their spouses' or former spouses' countries than cases in which they request the return of their children from their spouses' or former spouses' countries. In implementing the convention, Japanese officials concerned should act from the standpoint of protecting the well-being and interests of children as well as of ensuring fairness to the parties concerned.
At present 87 countries are parties to the convention, which went into effect in 1983. Among the Group of Eight countries, Japan is the only one that has not yet joined the convention, which sets procedures for settling cross-border child custody disputes. The Kan Cabinet in May 2011 endorsed a policy of Japan joining the convention.