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Amendments to the Child Abuse Prevention Law and the Child Welfare Law, 2007.

Country(ies)

Japan

Subjects (Classification)

Elimination of child labour, protection of children and young persons

Adopted on (Date of text)

2007-05-25

Scope of text

National

Type of legislation (Type of text)

Law, Act

Abstract/Citation

The amended Law provides for the obligation of municipal authorities or the head of a local welfare office to "take necessary measures", instead of "seek", to confirm the victim's safety. In addition, the governor of a prefecture is empowered to summon the guardian with his/her child in suspected cases of abuse and neglect as well as to conduct on-site inspections if the guardian does not comply with the summons. If the on-site inspection is refused, the officers of a child guidance center may forcefully enter the home, in order to confirm and ensure the child's safety, with the permission from the judge of the family court or the summary court.
In case the guardian does not comply with official recommendations, the child may be taken into temporary protective custody if necessary. The amended Law also provides for restrictions on visit to and correspondence with the child under protective custody in an institution; the governor may issue a no contact order to the guardian in order to keep him/her away from the child.