Conciliation Procedures

1.PETITION for Conciliation

The petition should be submitted to the Family Court that has jurisdiction over the area where the opponent lives or the Family Court that both parties agree on.

A petition for conciliation must consist of the following:

  • Petition forms filled out in Japanese (forms are available at the reception desk also be downloaded at the website of the courts 【https:www.courts.go.jp/】)
  • Certificate of Registered Items in the Foreign Resident Registration (Please ask your municipal office for details)
  • A copy of family register (KOSEKI-TOHHON) if the opponent is a Japanese (Please ask your municipal office for details)
  • •petition fee:
    Revenue stamps of \1,200
    Postage stamps (Please ask at receptionist desk about the amount and the kind of stamps required)
  • In some cases, some additional documents might be required.
  • If you don’t understand Japanese well, we would recommend you that you would come with someone who understands Japanese or with a Japanese friend.

   

2.On the Day of Conciliation Sessions

When you receive a notification of the first conciliation session
Since the attendance of both parties is a prerequisite for the satisfactory resolution of the problem in the conciliation proceedings, you are requested to attend at the appointed time and date. Please keep the letter of notification because it includes the information that will become necessary when you contact with the court clerk later. The conciliation is basically conducted in Japanese. You may contact the court clerk at the Family Court beforehand to see if conciliation in English or another language is available or if you need to have an interpreter with you.

 

What happens on the day of conciliation?

  1. Please come to the court a bit earlier than the appointed time and wait in the waiting room (please ask the court clerk about the location) until a conciliation commissioner come to take you to a small conciliation room.
  2. A conciliation committee, which consists of a judge and two conciliation commissioners, is in charge of each conciliation case and helps the two parties seek a solution to settle their problem by discussion. Conciliation commissioners are neutral and impartial, and will listen to both parties fairly. Everything discussed there shall be kept confidential.
  3. The conciliation session will be held about once a month until you reach an agreement
    you are satisfied with. The date and time for the subsequent session(s) will be decided during each session.
  4. If the two parties reach an agreement that is satisfactory to both, and valid, certified record of the result of conciliation where all the agreements and conditions are written in provisions and they will have the same effect as a final and binding judgement of a lawsuit.
  5. If the two parties cannot reach an agreement and conciliation is not fullfilled, the conciliation proceedings will be terminated. After that, depending on the case, it may be brought to court for its adjudication. Or else, one of the parties could seek a solution through litigations by filing personal status suits to the Family Court. The petitioner may withdraw from the conciliation at any time.

3.After the conciliation is successfully concluded

  1. Conciliation record can be obtained in person or by mail and should be kept in a safe place.
  2. All the agreements stipulated in conciliation record shall be carried out faithfully.
＊If you receive a notification of conciliation applied for by someone who wants to solve a problem by negotiating with you through conciliation:
You are requested to follow the procedures 2 and 3 as aforementioned. Your attendance at the conciliation session shall be mandatory at the time and date mentioned in the notification sent by the Family Court.

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