8th Ruling Finds Japan Upper House Poll in Unconstitutional State

Tokyo, Nov. 12 (Jiji Press)–The Naha branch of Fukuoka High Court ruled on Wednesday that the July 20 election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, was conducted “in a state of unconstitutionality” due to vote-value disparities. This was the eighth ruling to find that the election was held in an unconstitutional state. Meanwhile, Tokyo High Court on the same day ruled that the election was constitutional, marking the fifth ruling to find the election constitutional. Both Fukuoka High Court’s Nara branch and Tokyo High Court dismissed demands to nullify the results of the July election, which had a maximum vote-value gap of 3.13 times. A total of 16 lawsuits were filed by two groups of lawyers over the election with 14 high courts and high court branches. Hiroaki Kikuchi, presiding judge at Fukuoka High Court’s Naha branch in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, said the maximum vote-value gap had been gradually widening, issuing the ruling for the lawsuit filed by a group of lawyers including Hidetoshi Masunaga. Saying that the election system, which fairly and effectively reflects citizens’ interests and opinions in national politics, is the foundation of democratic governance, Kikuchi added that the election was conducted under conditions of extreme inequality. Delivering the ruling for the lawsuit filed by the other group of lawyers, Keiichiro Umemoto, presiding judge at Tokyo High Court, said that the widening of the vote-value gap was not significant. Still, Umemoto said that an unconstitutional ruling would be unavoidable if an Upper House election is held without major progress in discussions to rectify the disparities, even if they appear certain to widen. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]