일본의 미성년후견제도를 통한 우리나라에의 시사점

Abstract

On April 1st 2012, the Japanese government amended the civil law as well as the child welfare law from the viewpoint of protecting children's rights according to the ‘legislation to revise parts of the civil law and others'. In relation to the Guardianship System of Under-aged Minors, the system of suspending parental authority was adopted while appointing a legal guardian and multiple guardianship also became possible. The Guardianship System of Under-age Minors began from the system of executing the management of assets as well as supervising their personal rights instead of the parents as an ‘extension’ or ‘supplement’ for those under-age minors who have no parents. As such, there needs to be an overall review in relation to not only child abuse but from the management of their financial assets. Under this awareness, the Japanese government is currently going through a review about the basic direction of the guardianship system which would be appropriate in the best interest of the child. On the other hand, in the case of South Korea, the guardianship system focuses on supervising the child in question and under the reason that there is an absolute necessity for human contact between the guardian and the child in question, it is denying any kind of legal or corporate guardianship. In addition, with the reason that there might be disagreement and conflict between the guardians, they also do not allow the appointment of multiple guardians. Furthermore, as part of the support structure of the guardianship system in Japan, through the project of compensation of the adult guardian and the support project of the indemnity insurance as well as the trust fund of the guardianship system, not only is the securement of the adult guardian secured for the child in question but a lot of effort is being made to prevent any corruption such as embezzlement of the adult guardian and any damage costs that might be incurred during the execution of the guardianship responsibilities. On the other hand, in South Korea's case, although many critiques have been made to point out that the best interest of the child have not been executed along with the suggestion of the necessity to strengthen the system to protect the minors, these problems are not being addressed or revised. With that situation in mind, this paper has attempted to look at the implications of the Japanese guardianship system of the under-age minors so that the problems mentioned can be overcome and a sound guardianship system be established. As a result of such a study, a conclusion was reached that an acknowledgement of the legal guardianship and multiple guardianship, the establishment of a public support system and introduction of a public interest guardianship system as well as the strengthening of the supervisory function of the adult guardian are essential.