Cabinet approves revised law allowing abused minors to file for terminating parental rights

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- A law revision allowing minors abused by their parents to directly file for the termination of parental rights has passed through a Cabinet meeting, officials said Tuesday.

The Ministry of Justice said minors will be given the right to directly file a suit scrapping the parental rights of their mother and father under the revised Family Litigation Act,

The current law requires minors to designate a third person to represent them in such suits. However, it is difficult to designate such a person because relatives close to abusive parents often are hesitant to participate.

The revision also dramatically lowers the bar for detaining divorced parents who do not live up to their child support liabilities.

A court will be able to order the confinement of a delinquent parent if support payments are overdue by 30 days, up from the current three months.

The revision also requires the court to hear from children when determining a child's custody in a divorce case regardless of how young the children are. Currently, the court needs to hear from children aged 13 or older.

The ministry said the revision is aimed at strengthening minors' rights as the current family litigation law -- enacted in 1990 -- is widely seen as out of date.

khj@yna.co.kr
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