일본 유류분제도의 도입과 고유의 상속법 원리와의 조화

Japan introduced the European system of Forced Portion of Legal successor through the French scholar Boissonade. He had his own opinion about the French system at the time, and after coming to Japan, he wanted to create a new system which adapted to Japanese practices and demands. It cannot be denied that it was the french influence which divides inheritance into the part of free disposal and the part of forced portion for legal successor and which seeks return of shortfall in the form of reduction. However, the enactment of the Civil Code of Meiji took into consideration of various European legislatives, and the results were contained in the current Japanese law. The current Japanese inheritance law is a reflection of Japanese traditional law and also a reflection of the current state of Japanese judicial system when it was introduced. It is the Japanese systems which could be called “Japanization of European system.” As much as the differences of inheritance law traditions between Europe and Japan are, the differences between Japan and Korea are huge. Systems such as Forced Portion, Heir’s Limited Liability, and property separation systems accepted through Japan were unfamiliar that had never been experienced before in modern times. Each system should have appropriate utility value. And most of all, it should be in harmony with our own perceptions or current judicial conceptions. The interpretation of French-German and German-Roman subdivisions should be also limited to understanding some of these foreign systems. These should be a component of the entire inheritance law system that can be interpreted and applied logically without contradictions with other general systems.