친생추정에 관한 민법개정안

Draft Bill of the Civil Code on the Presumption of Paternity

Article 844 Para. 2 prescribes that a child born within three hundred days from the day of the dissolution of marriage is presumed as the child of mother s former husband. The decision of the Korean Constitutional Court on April 30, 2015 declared that this provision was incompatible with the Constitution. According to the decision, this provision is a burden for the divorcing partners to form new families, and an obstacle for the biological father to recover the true blood ties, so it interferes unduly the personality right and fundamental rights on the marriage and family life of the mother. As a result of this decision, the Korean Ministry of Justice formed a committee for the revision of relevant law. The committee proposed a draft bill on the presumption of paternity. And the draft is now in the notice of legislation process by the Ministry of Justice. There are 2 important changes in the draft. One is the introduction of the recognition of paternity by the biological father with the judicial permission. Another is the denial of the paternity with the judicial permission. Formerly, the judgment of the court was indispensible for the denial of paternity. In contrast, the draft proposes more convenient processes of the judicial permission.