피성년후견인과 피한정후견인의 소송능력

The capacity to sue and to be sued of vulnerable adults under legal protection

On July 1, 2013, the reformed law regarding protection for vulnerable adults will come into force. The new law abolishes the judicial interdiction with its limited form and instead introduces the new types of protective measures, i.e. guardianship for adults, limited guardinaship, specific guardianship and guardianship contract. Among them, the former two measures usually involve the effect limiting the legal capacity of adults under protection. Here questions arise subsequently whether and how far they retain the capacity to sue and to be sued, namely to assert their rights and defend them in civil procedures. The author strives to give solutions de lege lata and de lege ferenda. For this purpose, he surveys the foreign laws, above all German, French and Japanese law. Then he submits his own interpretive suggestions concerning the transitional provisions which govern this matter for 5 years. He at last proposes a draft de lege ferenda, which he hopes would be accepted into the Code of Civil Procedure.