8.Article 9
| (1) | Amendment to the Foreign Service Personnel Law |
| Article 7 of the Foreign Service Personnel Law stipulating grounds for disqualification was amended in May 1996. The Article was stipulated so that a person whose spouse was a foreigner could not become a foreign service official and that a person already in the foreign service and married later on to a foreigner would lose his/her office unless the spouse acquired Japanese nationality within four years after the marriage. The amendment eliminated these regulations, thereby enabling a person whose spouse is a foreigner to become or to continue to be a foreign service official. | |
| The former Article was based on the belief that, because of the specific nature of the mission, a foreign service official, married to a foreigner, could be exposed to various inconveniences and disadvantages. Although this concern has not been totally disregarded yet, the decision to amend the provisions was made, taking into consideration various factors which reflect the change in the international community, such as the progressive internationalization of the Japanese society, the rising number of international matrimonies among diplomats in general. |