JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Kenji Yano, Tokyo Kokusai Partners Law Office
sure of income information has also been established. These reforms are expected to enhance the effective ‑ ness of enforcement. International Enforcement of Financial Orders A judgment or order rendered by a foreign court does not automatically have enforceability in Japan. How ‑ ever, financial orders – including orders concerning property division or child support – may be enforced in Japan if certain requirements are satisfied. In practice, the party seeking enforcement must first obtain an execution judgment from a Japanese court with respect to the foreign judgment, and thereaf ‑ ter proceed under the Japanese Civil Execution Act (Article 24). In order to obtain an execution judgment, the foreign judgment must be final and binding, and must satisfy the statutory requirements for recognition under Japanese law (Code of Civil Procedure, Article 118; Domestic Relations Case Procedure Act, Article 79-2). The principal requirements for recognition are as fol ‑ lows: • the foreign court must have had internationally recognised jurisdiction; • the defeated defendant must have been duly served (excluding service by publication or equiva ‑ lent methods), or must have appeared in the proceedings; • the content of the judgment and the proceedings must not be contrary to public policy in Japan; and • reciprocity must exist between Japan and the for ‑ eign jurisdiction. This framework applies equally to financial orders aris ‑ ing from family law proceedings, including property division and child support. 2.8 Media Access and Transparency in Financial Proceedings Media Access and Transparency Financial disputes, including property division, are handled either as domestic relations proceedings before the Family Court (conciliation or adjudication), or as ancillary claims within divorce litigation (personal
status litigation). The level of publicity differs accord ‑ ingly. Domestic relations proceedings (conciliation and adjudication) Family Court proceedings are, in principle, closed to the public. Attendance at hearings and access to court records are restricted. As a result, media coverage of the substance of these proceedings is extremely lim ‑ ited in practice. Personal status litigation (ancillary financial claims in divorce proceedings) In principle, oral hearings and the delivery of judg ‑ ments in personal status litigation are public. Court records are generally open to inspection (Code of Civil Procedure, Article 91). However, where the records contain serious private matters, the court may order restrictions on access (Article 92). Anonymity of Proceedings Domestic relations proceedings (conciliation and adjudication) are conducted in private, and privacy is institutionally protected. By contrast, Japanese law does not provide a gen ‑ eral mechanism allowing parties to conduct litigation anonymously. In personal status litigation, the parties’ names are, in principle, stated in the court record. However, the court may order restrictions on access to the record where it contains serious private mat ‑ ters (Code of Civil Procedure, Article 92). In published decisions, the names of the parties and children are ordinarily anonymised. 2.9 ADR in Financial Matters Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution Mechanisms In property-related disputes, Bar Association ADR centres and private ADR institutions are available as out-of-court dispute resolution mechanisms. Whether ADR Is Mandatory There is no statutory requirement mandating the use of ADR in property-related disputes, nor are there any sanctions for failing to attempt ADR. Family court conciliation is widely used in practice as a consensus-oriented procedure. However, it is a
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