Preventing Secondary Harm from Domestic Violence... Civil Law Amendment to Restrict Issuance of Family Relation Certificates Proposed

Adoption of Adopted Children Now Possible for Single Individuals
Siblings Excluded from Heirs with Reserved Portion Rights

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] A legislative amendment is being promoted to restrict perpetrators of domestic violence from viewing or obtaining family relation certificates of domestic violence victims in order to prevent secondary harm from domestic violence.

Adoption of a child as a legal child, which was previously only allowed for married couples, will now be permitted for single individuals as well, and siblings will be excluded from the list of statutory heirs entitled to a minimum inheritance share.

The Ministry of Justice announced that the amendment to the Family Relations Registration Act, which restricts the issuance, viewing, and obtaining of family relation certificates of domestic violence victims by perpetrators, passed the Cabinet meeting on the 9th.

Until now, perpetrators of domestic violence could view or obtain family relation certificates or basic certificates of domestic violence victims without any restrictions. As a result, changed addresses or renamed names were exposed as is, which could be used for additional crimes.

According to the amendment, if the domestic violence victim applies, the issuance, viewing, and obtaining of family relation certificates by the perpetrator will be restricted or only possible with personal information concealed.

In August last year, the Constitutional Court ruled the legislative inaction that did not prepare such measures as unconstitutional due to infringement on the domestic violence victim’s right to informational self-determination, urging legislators to prepare amended laws by the end of this year.

The Ministry of Justice stated, “If the amendment passes the National Assembly, the personal information of domestic violence victims will be more thoroughly and effectively protected, and it is expected to protect victims from potential additional crimes by perpetrators.”

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Ministry of Justice announced the legislative notice of amendments to the Civil Act and Family Litigation Act to allow single individuals to adopt legal children and to remove siblings from the statutory heirs entitled to a minimum inheritance share.

The Civil Act amendment allows individuals aged 25 or older, including singles, to adopt legal children. Additionally, when a single person becomes an adoptive parent, the family court must consider essential factors such as ‘parenting time’ and ‘post-adoption parenting environment’ to ensure proper child care when approving the adoption.

Furthermore, the Family Litigation Act amendment newly establishes a mandatory provision requiring the family court to investigate the adoption environment through a family investigator before granting adoption approval.

The Ministry of Justice also prepared an amendment to the Civil Act excluding siblings from statutory heirs entitled to a minimum inheritance share, considering that sibling bonds have weakened compared to the past, with many living independently and fewer cases of mutual support.

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