Domestic Relations Case Procedure Act

A family court that has made a ruling under the provisions of Article 39 to impose an obligation on a person (if the court in charge of an appeal has made a judicial decision to impose an obligation on a person under the provisions of Article 91, paragraph (1) (including the cases where applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 96, paragraph (1) and Article 98, paragraph (1)), the family court that is the court of first instance; and if a high court has made a judicial decision to impose an obligation on a person pursuant to the provisions of Article 105, paragraph (2), the family court that is the court of first instance of the case for adjudication of domestic relations on the merits; the same applies hereinafter) may, upon the request of an obligee, examine the status of the performance of the obligation determined by the ruling (if the court in charge of an appeal or a high court has made a judicial decision to determine an obligation, by the judicial decision; the same applies in Article 290, paragraph (1)), and recommend an obligor to perform the obligation.

A family court that has made a ruling under the provisions of Article 39 to impose an obligation on a person may commission another family court to conduct an examination and make a recommendation under the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

A family court that has made a ruling under the provisions of Article 39 to impose an obligation on a person as well as a family court that has been commissioned to conduct an examination and make a recommendation under the provisions of the preceding paragraph (referred to as a "family court responsible for examination and recommendation" in this Article through Article 289-4) may have a family court investigating officer conduct the examination and make the recommendation under the provisions of paragraph (1).

When a family court responsible for examination and recommendation, in connection with the examination and recommendation under the provisions of paragraph (1), finds it to be necessary in order to coordinate the home, and other environments of a person concerned with the case, it may have a family court investigating officer communicate with a social welfare organization or take other measures.

A family court responsible for examination and recommendation may commission a government agency, public officer, or any other entity as it finds appropriate to conduct the examination necessary for the examination and recommendation under the provisions of paragraph (1), or may request a bank, a trust company or the employer of a person concerned or any other person to make the necessary report concerning the deposits, trust property, income, or other matters regarding the person concerned.

A person concerned (meaning a person concerned with a case subject to examination and recommendation under the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article; the same applies in this Article through Article 289-4) may, with permission from the family court responsible for examination and recommendation, make a request to a court clerk for the inspection or copying of, or the issuance of an authenticated copy, transcript or extract of, a hard-copy case record for a case subject to examination and recommendation (meaning the part of the record of a case subject to examination and recommendation under the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article excluding the electronic or magnetic case record for a case subject to examination and recommendation prescribed in paragraph (1) of the following Article; the same applies in the following paragraph and paragraph (4)).

The provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply to audio tape, etc. in a hard-copy case record for a case subject to examination and recommendation. In this case, a person concerned may, with permission from the family court responsible for examination and recommendation, make a request to a court clerk for the reproduction of these objects.

When a petition for permission under the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs is filed by a person concerned, the family court responsible for examination and recommendation may grant the permission when it finds it to be appropriate.

The provisions of Article 47, paragraph (6) apply mutatis mutandis to a request under the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2), and the provisions of paragraph (7) of that Article apply mutatis mutandis to a request for the inspection, copying or reproduction of a hard-copy case record for a case subject to examination and recommendation, respectively.

A person concerned may, with permission from the family court responsible for examination and recommendation, make a request to a court clerk, as prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court, for the inspection of the contents of an electronic or magnetic case record for a case subject to examination and recommendation (meaning the part of the record of a case subject to examination and recommendation under the provisions of Article 289, paragraph (1) that pertains to matters recorded in a file pursuant to the provisions of this Act or other laws and regulations; the same applies in the following paragraph and paragraph (3)) displayed by the method prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court.

A person concerned may, with permission from the family court responsible for examination and recommendation, make a request to a court clerk, as prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court, for the copying of the matters recorded in the electronic or magnetic case record for a case subject to examination and recommendation by recording them in a file provided in the computer used by that person using the Electronic Data Processing System prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court, or by any other method prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court.

A person concerned may, with permission from the family court responsible for examination and recommendation, make a request to a court clerk, as prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court, for the issuance of a document stating all or part of the matters recorded in the electronic or magnetic case record for a case subject to examination and recommendation, for which the court clerk has certified, by the method prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court, that the contents of the document are identical to the matters recorded in the electronic or magnetic case record for a case subject to examination and recommendation, or for the provision of an electronic or magnetic record in which all or part of those matters are recorded, for which the court clerk has certified, by the method prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court, that the contents of the electronic or magnetic record are identical to the matters recorded in the electronic or magnetic case record for a case subject to examination and recommendation, by recording it in a file provided in the computer used by that person using the Electronic Data Processing System prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court, or by any other method prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court.

When a petition for permission under the provisions of the preceding three paragraphs is filed by a person concerned, the family court responsible for examination and recommendation may grant the permission when it finds it to be appropriate.

The provisions of Article 47-2, paragraph (4) (excluding the part pertaining to item (i)) apply mutatis mutandis to a request under the provisions of paragraphs (1) through (3), and the provisions of Article 47, paragraph (7) apply mutatis mutandis to a request under the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively.

A person concerned may, with permission from the family court responsible for examination and recommendation, make a request for the issuance of a document stating matters regarding a case subject to examination and recommendation under the provisions of Article 289, paragraph (1), for which a court clerk has certified those matters by the method prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court, or for the provision of an electronic or magnetic record in which those matters are recorded, for which a court clerk has certified those matters by the method prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court, by recording it in a file provided in the computer used by that person using the Electronic Data Processing System prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court, or by any other method prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court.

When a petition for permission under the provisions of the preceding paragraph is filed by a person concerned, the family court responsible for examination and recommendation may grant the permission when it finds it to be appropriate.

The provisions of Article 289 through the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to the performance of obligations determined in mediation or a ruling in lieu of mediation (including those determined by a high court; the same applies in paragraph (3) of the following Article) and the performance of matters ordered as a disposition prior to mediation.

When a family court has made a ruling under the provisions of Article 39 to impose an obligation on a person, and the person has neglected to perform the obligation to pay money or provide any other property benefit as imposed by the ruling, the family court may, when it finds it to be appropriate and upon the petition of the obligee, make a ruling to specify a reasonable period and order the obligor to perform the obligation within that period. In this case, the order is to be issued in relation to the whole or part of the obligation the obligor has neglected to perform by the time the order has been issued.

When a family court that has made a ruling under the provisions of Article 39 to impose an obligation on a person orders the performance of the obligation pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, it must hear statements from the obligor.

The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs apply mutatis mutandis to the performance of an obligation imposed on a person by mediation or by a ruling in lieu of mediation.

Beyond what is provided for in the preceding three paragraphs, the procedure to make a ruling to order the performance of an obligation under the provisions of paragraph (1) (including the cases where applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to the preceding paragraph) is to be as prescribed in Part II, Chapter I.

If a person who has been ordered to perform an obligation pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) (including cases where applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to paragraph (3)) does not comply with the order without justifiable grounds, the family court punishes the person by a non-criminal fine of up to 100,000 yen.