“The State and the Private Sphere in Aging and Declining Birthrate Issues”

Key questions

• How has the state interfered with the private sphere through social and family laws?
• As birthrates decline and societies continue to age, how will the state’s intervention in social and family laws change?

Research Purpose and Approach

In this aging society with declining birthrates, the promotion of laws and policies that prohibit gender and age discrimination in employment, provide child-rearing support for working women, and intervene against child abuse through administrative procedures is necessary. This project will carry out studies on how states should function, intervene, and control–as well as on the roles private parties play and what rights and duties they hold–in fields related to aging society issues. There have been a plethora of studies on the issue of state intervention in the private sphere, such as the formation of “social law” against “civil law” in jurisprudence. State intervention and control in the private sphere, which are currently sought in this aging society, involve a number of problems that cannot be fully addressed if we confine ourselves within the academic disciplines of “public law,” “private law,” and “social law.” Thus, we can say that new research beyond these three frameworks is now necessary. Consequently, two separate subprojects, the social law system group and the family law system group, will carry out research activities under this project.

The social law system group’s research will form the foundation for this project. First, the group will seek specific legal policies to address problems associated with the aging society. Then, the group will reexamine the field of “social law” which has explored the possibilities of state intervention in private autonomy. Through such research, a basic theory focusing on the relationship between the state and the private sphere in the current aging society with a declining birthrate should emerge.

The family law system group will primarily address the issue of state intervention in families, which is becoming a tangible problem in this aging society. While recognizing that, as a general rule, modern law has avoided intervening in family affairs, the group plans to reexamine the acceptance of such a rule, and explore whether state intervention can effect changes on the conventional family law system. Through such examination, the group will develop a theoretical perspective on the possible effects of state intervention on the “family” unit within the private sphere. In order to undertake the above research, our project will be holding around 10 research seminars every fiscal year. We will also carry out cooperative research through interactive discussions on issues relevant to both groups.

Research Activities

In FY2009, we held ten research seminars in total at Tohoku University. We also organized the symposium, “The Role of Medicine and Law in a New Era” in July. Project members continued their individual research activities based on the achievements of their research in the GCOE. The project leader organized the symposium on “Revision of the Family Law” at the academic seminar hosted by the Japan Association of Private Law in October. Many of the project members’ achievements, including Associate Professor TAKIZAWA Sayako’s Kyousou kikai no kakuho wo meguru houkouzou [Legal Structure around Security of Opportunity for Competition] released by Yuhikaku, have also been published. In FY2010, we will continue to hold research seminars. In addition, we plan to incorporate our regular activity into the educational activities for the Cross-National Doctoral Course students. Furthermore, we will develop collaborative research aiming at publication of our achievements in the fiscal year after next.

Project Leader

MIZUNO, Noriko
(GCOE Project Sub Leader)

Affiliation

Professor, School of Law, Tohoku University

Research Fields 

Civil Law, Family Law 

Results 

List

Member