Supreme Court: "Right to Register Child's Birth is a Fundamental Right... Unmarried Fathers Can Register Without Mother's Documents"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Supreme Court has issued its first ruling recognizing the right to register a child's birth immediately after birth as a fundamental right.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Kwon Soon-il) announced on the 9th that it overturned the lower court's decision to refuse birth registration in the retrial of a birth registration confirmation application filed by Mr. A against the family court, which had refused to accept his daughter's birth registration, and remanded the case to the Cheongju District Court.

The court stated, "The right to have a child's birth registered is a fundamental right that cannot be infringed even by law," and accepted Mr. A's application.

It also judged that if a child's birth is not registered immediately, the child may be unable to receive welfare benefits such as health insurance or child allowances, and may be exposed to crimes such as illegal adoption.

Furthermore, in cases like Mr. A's, where "the mother is a foreigner and unable to provide the necessary documents for birth registration due to reasons beyond her control," the unmarried father alone can register the birth, broadly interpreting the so-called "Sarang-i Law."

A Supreme Court official explained, "This case is the first to recognize the right to birth registration for a child," and added, "With this decision, unmarried fathers can more easily register the births of children born out of wedlock."

Mr. A maintained a de facto marital relationship with a Chinese national woman and gave birth to a daughter in September 2018.

He tried to register the birth immediately by registering his marriage with his wife, but was unable to do so because her passport renewal was denied. Instead of a Chinese passport, Mr. A's wife was residing in Korea with a travel document issued by the Japanese government recognizing her refugee status.

Ultimately, Mr. A applied to the family court to allow him to register his daughter's birth alone as an unmarried father under the so-called "Sarang-i Law."

Article 57, Paragraph 2 of the Family Relations Registration Act, known as the Sarang-i Law provision, allows an unmarried father to register a child's birth alone even when the mother's name or resident registration number is unknown.

The first trial dismissed Mr. A's application. The second trial also rejected the application for the same reasons, leading Mr. A to file a retrial with the Supreme Court.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.