면접교섭권 확대에 관한 민법개정안에 대한 소고

Article 837-2 of the Civil Act concerning visitation rights limits such rights to between the non-nurturing parent and his/her child. However, the family structure nowadays have changed greatly due to the increase of divorce, remarriage, etc in our society. This also led to diverse changes in how and who raises a child, therefore giving birth to an argument that the spectrum of visitation right holders should also be widened than the current Article 837-2. In the 20th of December 2016, Article 837-2 was amended and is waiting to be enforced on the 3rd of June 2017. Upon enforcement, the “lineal ascendants of the non-nurturing parent”, in other words the child grandparents, will be able to ask the court for visitation rights under certain terms. Taking into regard the diverse and rapid change of the family structure, the amendment extending the range of visitation rights and therefore promoting the welfare of the child is to be welcomed. However, the amendment is still limited because it only allows visitation rights to the child’s grandparents only when the non-nurturing parent cannot exercise his/her visitation rights. Also it has failed to introduce explicit provisions concerning how and to what extent can one exercise their visitation right, especially its termination. The increase in the interest regarding visitation rights is inevitable. Therefore in order to clarify its relationship to other rights and to swiftly settle any related legal disputes, more highly detailed articles should be introduced to our Civil Act.