スラチャイと英語を勉強しましょう！

(Jun. 5, 2008) The Yomiuri Shimbun

Supreme Court corrects outdated Nationality Law

「国籍法」違憲　時代に合わない法を正した（6月5日付・読売社説）

The Supreme Court's Grand Bench declared unconstitutional Wednesday a clause in the Nationality Law that requires parents to be married in order for Japanese nationality to be granted to their children.

This is the eighth case in which the Supreme Court has declared a law provision as going against the Constitution. The latest ruling shows the necessity of revising laws flexibly so that they are in accordance with social changes.

The top court made the landmark decision on two cases in which a total of 10 Japanese-Filipino children with Philippine citizenship sought to confirm their Japanese nationality. All of them were born out of wedlock to Japanese fathers and Filipino mothers. Their fathers recognized paternity for them after they were born in Japan.

社会の変化に呼応し、法律を柔軟に変えていく必要性が改めて示されたということだろう。

最高裁大法廷は、国籍法の規定を憲法違反とする判決を言い渡した。最高裁が法律の規定を違憲と判断したのは、８例目である。

日本人の父、フィリピン人の母を持つフィリピン国籍の子ども１０人が、日本国籍の確認を求めていた。１０人はいずれも非嫡出子（婚外子）で、日本で生まれた後、父から認知された。

Children born out of wedlock to Japanese men and non-Japanese women can have Japanese nationality if their fathers acknowledge the children as theirs before birth. Like the plaintiffs in the latest cases, however, if they are acknowledged after their birth, such children cannot obtain Japanese nationality as long as their parents remain unmarried.

父が日本人、母は外国人という非嫡出子の場合、生まれる前に父から認知されれば、日本国籍を取得できる。だが、原告のように、認知の時期が生まれた後であると、父母が結婚しない限り、日本国籍は得られない。

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Parental ties, not when, key

However, the Supreme Court said in the latest ruling that the Nationality Law's clause that requires parents to be married for Japanese nationality to be granted to their children, is "discrimination without reasonable grounds." It also goes against equality under the laws guaranteed by the Constitution, according to the ruling.

父母の結婚を条件とした国籍法の規定に対し、判決は、「合理的理由のない差別」と断じ、憲法が保障する法の下の平等に違反するとした。

"The provision does not necessarily match today's reality, if diversity and changes of attitudes toward family life and the parent-child relationship are taken into consideration," the top court said.

「家族生活や親子関係に関する意識の変化や多様化を考慮すれば、今日では実態に適合するとはいえない」とも指摘した。

（diversity=多様性）(changes of attitudes toward family life=家族関係に関する意識の変化)

The ruling is a realistic judgment that recognizes the actual situation in which the number of single mothers, and international and common-law marriages, is increasing.

国際結婚や事実婚、シングルマザーなどが増えている現状を考慮した現実的な判断といえる。

（international marriage=国際結婚）（common-low marriage=事実婚、既成事実で結婚、出来ちゃった婚）

Some of the justices said in supporting opinions that it is hard to find the rationality in deciding whether to grant Japanese nationality or not based on when children can get paternal recognition.

一部の裁判官は、補足意見で、認知の時期により区別することについても、「合理性を説明することは困難」と批判した。

Due to this clause in the Nationality Law, some unnatural situations have been left unresolved, such as Japanese-Filipino sisters who have been unable to obtain the same nationality.

この区別によって国籍が異なる姉妹もいる。国籍法の規定は、こうした不自然な状態も招いてきた。

In granting Japanese nationality, the government values whether a foreign national has close ties to Japan. This policy in itself is reasonable.

政府は、日本国籍を与えるに当たり、日本と密接な結びつきがあるかどうかを重視している。その考え方自体は当然といえる。

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Acknowledging new times

The Supreme Court said in the latest ruling that there might once have been compelling reasons to consider the parents' marital status as a way to measure their children's ties with Japan.

判決も、父母の結婚を、日本と子どもの結びつきを示すものとしたことについて、かつては「相応の理由があった」とした。

Wednesday's ruling forces the Justice Ministry to revise the Nationality Law. The ministry will have to work quickly on a new standard to measure the ties an applicant has to Japan, such as the number of years spent in the country. It also will need measures to detect "a bogus paternal recognition" designed at securing Japanese nationality.

法務省は、国籍法の改正を迫られる。日本での居住歴など、我が国との結びつきをはかる新たな尺度を早急に検討しなければならない。国籍の取得を目的とした「偽装認知」の対策も必要になってくるだろう。

（detect=見つける、見抜く）（bogus=偽の）

It is said that tens of thousands of children with foreign nationalities are under situations similar to the plaintiffs.

同様の境遇の外国籍の子どもは、日本国内に数万人いるともいわれる。

The Supreme Court approved the constitutionality of the clause in the Nationality Law in 2002 and rejected a demand by a Filipino woman to obtain Japanese nationality for one of her daughters born out of wedlock from a Japanese father. At that time, the top court considered paternal recognition after birth alone as not enough to grant Japanese nationality.

今回と同じくフィリピン人の国籍が争われた訴訟で、最高裁は２００２年、合憲判断を示し、出生後の認知だけでは日本国籍を認めなかった。

（constitutionality=合憲性）

In the six years since then, however, the top court has decided otherwise.

その後６年で最高裁は新しい判断を打ち出した。

The Supreme Court assumes a heavy responsibility over checking whether laws match the changing realities in society.

変化する社会情勢に法律が合致しているかどうか－－。そのチェックが最高裁に課せられている重い責務である。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 5, 2008)

（2008年6月5日01時32分  読売新聞）