Request for Direct Termination of Parental Rights for Minor Children and Detention for 30 Days if Child Support Not Paid... Family Litigation Act Amendment Passed at Cabinet Meeting

On July 30, 2020, in front of the entrance of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, members of the Child Support Resolution Group held a press conference before filing a complaint against the Commissioner of the National Police Agency, who is responsible for managing and supervising the police officers unable to enforce child support detention, on charges of dereliction of duty. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] In the future, minors will be able to directly file a petition for loss of parental rights against parents who abuse their parental authority. If a court orders the payment of child support and the obligated party fails to comply within 30 days, a "detention" order can be issued.

On the 8th, the Ministry of Justice announced that a full revision bill of the Family Litigation Act (hereinafter referred to as the revision bill), which includes these provisions, passed the Cabinet meeting on the same day. The Ministry plans to submit the revised bill to the National Assembly within this month.

The current Family Litigation Act, enacted and enforced in 1991, has been in effect for over 30 years. There have been calls to revise provisions that no longer fit the current family culture or social realities or cause inconvenience.

The Ministry of Justice stated, "This revision bill fundamentally shifts the child-rearing litigation procedures from a 'parent-centered' design to a 'child-centered' approach. It establishes procedural rights for minors in family litigation and strengthens measures to ensure the enforcement of child support, enabling minors to receive adequate protection."

Expansion of Minors' Litigation Capacity... Introduction of Procedural Assistants System

First, the revision bill significantly strengthens the procedural rights of minors in family litigation.

Article 28 (Litigation Capacity) is newly established, stipulating in paragraph 1 that "a person with decision-making capacity may perform litigation acts in family relation family litigation cases," allowing minors to directly perform litigation acts.

Therefore, until now, minors had to appoint a special representative to file a petition for loss of parental rights against their parents. However, in cases where parents abuse parental authority and harm the welfare of the child, minors will now be able to directly petition the court for loss of parental rights.

The revision bill mandates that family courts must hear the statements of minors regardless of their age when deciding on the designation of parental authority or custody.

Additionally, to protect the rights of minors during the trial process, the bill introduces a system allowing the appointment of procedural assistants such as lawyers or experts in psychology or child studies to support minors.

Relaxation of Criteria for 'Detention Order' Due to Nonpayment of Child Support from '3 Periods' to '30 Days'

Secondly, the revision bill strengthens measures to ensure the enforcement of child support for minors.

Under the current Family Litigation Act Article 68 (Sanctions for Nonperformance of Special Obligations) paragraph 1 subparagraph 1, if a person ordered to make regular monetary payments fails to fulfill the obligation for three or more periods without justifiable reason, the family court may, upon the rights holder's application, issue a detention order for up to 30 days until the obligation is fulfilled.

For example, if child support is agreed to be paid regularly rather than as a lump sum, a detention order can only be requested from the family court after missing payments for three periods.

However, the revision bill relaxes this requirement, allowing a detention order to be requested if the person ordered to pay support or child support fails to fulfill the obligation within 30 days without justifiable reason.

The revision bill also grants enforceability to provisional dispositions by the family court (such as ordering child support payments during litigation), enabling more effective securing of child support.

Establishment of Provisions for Transfer of Related Civil Cases to Family Court... Revision of Classification System

Lastly, the revision bill allows civil lawsuits related to family litigation, such as claims for the return of statutory inheritance portions or cases involving the termination of nominal trusts concerning inheritance property division claims, to be handled together in family courts.

Additionally, the classification system of family litigation, currently categorized as Ga, Na, Da, Ra, Ma types, will be changed to "family relation family litigation," "property relation family litigation," "family non-contentious litigation without opposing party," and "family non-contentious litigation with opposing party," enabling immediate understanding of case characteristics from the classification itself.

The Ministry of Justice stated, "Through this revision, procedural rights of minors in family cases will be strengthened, custodial parents' securing of child support will be faster and more effective, and the Family Litigation Act will be more rational and systematically organized, enhancing the welfare protection of socially vulnerable groups such as minors."

It added, "The Ministry of Justice plans to promptly submit this revised bill to the National Assembly and actively work to ensure its passage."

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