離婚後３００日規定：「違憲」提訴へ 出生届不受理、岡山の女児 全国初、４日にも

(Mainichi Japan) December 1, 2008

Woman to sue city for refusing to register baby born within 300 days of divorce

離婚後３００日規定：「違憲」提訴へ　出生届不受理、岡山の女児　全国初、４日にも

OKAYAMA -- A woman is poised to file a damages suit against a city for refusing to accept a birth report for her daughter who was born within 300 days of her divorce from her former husband.

It will be the nation's first lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of a Civil Code provision that recognizes that those born within 300 days of divorce are the children of the mother's former husband, according to the woman's lawyers.

Based on the provision, a city in Okayama Prefecture refused to accept a birth report filed by a woman in her 20s from the prefecture on Nov. 10, who sought the city to recognize her baby girl born in November as the child of her current husband. She had divorced her former husband in March.

The woman will file a suit with the Kurashiki branch of the Okayama District Court as early as Thursday, demanding 3.3 million yen in damages. The woman's daughter will be the plaintiff in the suit.

　民法の離婚後３００日規定は「法の下の平等」を定めた憲法に違反するとして、岡山県の２０代女性が４日にも、この規定を理由に１１月に出産した女児の出生届を不受理にした同県内の市を相手に、女児を原告として３３０万円の賠償請求訴訟を岡山地裁倉敷支部に起こす。弁護団は、３００日規定の違憲性を問う訴訟は全国初としている。【坂根真理】

　民法７７２条は「離婚後３００日以内に生まれた子は前夫の子」と推定。市はこの規定をもとに１１月１０日、現在の夫との間の子どもとして出された出生届の受理を拒否した。

According to the woman's attorneys, she got married to her former husband in Osaka in February 2006. However, she moved back to her parents' home in Okayama Prefecture in September the same year due to domestic violence by her husband. She subsequently obtained a protection order under the Law on the Prevention of Spousal Violence.

　原告側によると、女性は０６年２月、大阪府内で前夫と結婚。同９月に夫の家庭内暴力（ＤＶ）のため岡山県の実家に戻り、ＤＶ防止法に基づく保護命令を受けた。

In October 2007, the Okayama Family Court granted her a divorce from her husband, but he appealed the decision. The divorce was later recognized after a settlement was reached at the Okayama branch of the Hiroshima High Court in March this year.

０７年１０月、岡山家裁は離婚を認めたが前夫が控訴し、今年３月に広島高裁岡山支部で和解が成立して離婚した。

Before her divorce was legally granted, the woman got pregnant with the baby of her current husband in February this year and gave birth to the baby in early November.

The Justice Ministry issued a notice in May 2007 that requires local governments to accept birth reports that cite those other than the former husband of a woman to be the father of a baby born within 300 days of a divorce if the woman got pregnant after her divorce. Since the Okayama woman got pregnant before her divorce, her case was not accepted.

The woman claims that she was technically unable to get in contact with her former husband because she had been placed under the protection order and therefore it is unfeasible for her to have a child with her former husband. Furthermore, she maintains that it is pointless to argue the timing of her pregnancy because her divorce with her former husband was delayed due to his refusal.

　女性は１１月初旬に現夫との間に女児を出産。法務省は０７年５月、離婚後妊娠に限り３００日以内でも前夫以外を親とする出生届を認める通達を出しているが、妊娠は離婚成立前の今年２月で対象外だった。原告側は「保護命令で女性は前夫と接触できない状態だった」として、３００日以内なら前夫の子とする規定の推定は及ばないと主張。「離婚が遅れたのは前夫が応じなかったため」として、妊娠が離婚後かどうかの線引きは意味がない、と訴えている。

Because the city declined to accept the birth report, the woman's daughter has not been placed on the family registry, which means that she is not entitled to child benefits and enrollment at school.

"It violates Article 14 of the Constitution, which provides for equality under the law. The baby's birth report was not accepted because of the timing of her mother's divorce and pregnancy, for which the baby bears no responsibility," said the woman.

　女児は無戸籍となることで、住民票や就学通知などさまざまな不利益を被るとし、「離婚と妊娠の時期という女児に責任がない事情による出生届の不受理は、法の下の平等を定めた憲法１４条に違反する」と主張している。

"I've heard there are a lot of people across the nation who are having a hard time like us. I want to try and change society through my suit," the woman said in a statement released by her attorneys.

　女性は弁護士を通じて「私たちのようなつらい思いをしている人たちが全国に大勢いると聞いて、社会を変えるために、と思いました」とコメントしている。

毎日新聞　2008年12月1日　東京朝刊