Australian parents in Japan will be able to seek joint custody of their children for the first time after the Japanese parliament signed off on changes to the country’s century-old system on Friday following years of international outrage.
The Japanese government has been accused by parents of facilitating a “black hole” of child abduction through the sole custody system, which gave one parent total control over a child after separation. At least 89 Australian children have been registered as abducted since 2004 after having all contact legally cut off from their Australian parent.
The legislation, which will come into effect in 2026 and will be applied retrospectively, will enable parents to mutually agree to joint or sole custody. It also allows the family court to award sole custody to one parent, including in cases where that parent is at risk of domestic violence.
Australian mother Catherine Henderson was living in Tokyo when she says she came home from work to find that her husband had abducted their daughter and son.
But while the laws inject flexibility into the family court system, giving judges the power to grant joint custody – the first major change to the laws in more than 70 years – critics are sceptical that the changes will make a major difference to high-conflict cases.
Japanese lawyer Takao Tanase said the final legislation was weak and disappointing, and risked facilitating “joint custody in name only”. He said it contained no guiding principle that parenting should be shared, referring only to a vague concept of acting in the best interest of the child.
“Without any major change in the attitude of the courts, then this law won’t change much,” he said.
Australian mother Catherine Henderson, whose children, then aged 10 and 14, were abducted by her Japanese husband five years ago, said the laws were a “step in the right direction but don’t go anywhere near far enough to solve the complex and serious issues with Japan’s family law”.
Meanwhile, Scott McIntyre, whose children Hinata and Harugo are the subject of a yellow Interpol missing person notice, said there was “nothing to celebrate”. He said the law put Japan “at a starting point that other nations reached years ago”.
“It’s natural that those of us that have been through this fear that the same court that refused to recognise our custodial rights after the abduction will naturally just continue to operate in the same manner that they did before,” he said.