Legal Clinic Endeavour for International Family Law Clients in Okinawa

概要

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This paper documents our inaugural effort to develop a law clinic serving the unique client population in Okinawa, Japan. Due to a substantial U.S. military presence in Okinawa, there is a heavy concentration of foreign residents here including U.S. civilians and service members and non affiliated third country nationals, especially from the Philippines, Korea and Thailand. The Japanese immigration status of foreigners-- either Status of Forces Agreement ("SOFA") status or Japanese resident aliens, complicates the legal landscape and affects their legal rights and responsibilities. Additionally, the large presence of foreigners on this small island, and their interaction with local residents, creates a host of complex legal issues that elsewhere would be rare but are the norm here. While most foreign residents are transient, their international legal issues are not people change, problems remain. Currently, no legal providers in Okinawa comprehensively serve Japanese and non Japanese nationals with their international legal problems. With emphasis on international family law cases, we attempted to provide bilegal, bilingual counseling for all Okinawan residents in our law school clinic last year. We faced several challenges and we have much work ahead. But, we will reflect on our experiences, continue to develop the clinic and break through barriers in order to provide high quality legal advice to needy clients.