親権及び未成年後見制度の沿革と課題 : 児童虐待防止法制確立の視点から

抄録

This paper considers the problem of parental authority and the minors' guardianship system in civil law from the viewpoint of establishing a child abuse prevention law system that would be viable. The stipulation about parental authority and the guardianship of minors were passed on from Meiji civil law to postwar civil law (the 1947 revision). However, the increase of child abuse has become a social problem recently, and it was decided to carry out a check of the parental authority system for the prevention of child abuse. The regulation of the civil law on parental authority and guardianship of minors was revised in June, 2011. The core content is as follows. 1. It was specified that parental authority is a right and duty for the benefit of the child. 2. Judgment standards of the loss of parental authority were changed. 3. A system for the suspension of parental authority was established. 4. Guardianship of a minor by more than one person was permitted. 5. Guardianship of a minor by a corporation was permitted. However, this civil law revision is aimed at the prevention of child abuse. There are many more matters that have not been discussed such as the significance of parental authority, how an ideal family ought to be, as well as, guardianship of a minor by an administrative agency. We need to continue the discussion about parental authority system in future.