Japan Top Court to Issue Unified Ruling on Same-Sex Marriage

Tokyo, March 26 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Supreme Court is expected to issue a unified ruling on whether law provisions not allowing same-sex marriage are constitutional, as six related appeals have been sent to the court’s Grand Bench. The court’s Third Petty Bench, presided over by Michiharu Hayashi, on Wednesday forwarded the cases to the Grand Bench, presided over by Chief Justice Yukihiko Imasaki. Lower court decisions on the lawsuits were divided, with five finding the legal provisions to be unconstitutional. The Grand Bench, consisting of the top court’s 15 justices, is expected to give its ruling as early as next year, as it already has other suits to handle, including one over whether last July’s election of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament, was constitutional in terms of vote-value disparities. After hearing opinions from both sides of the damages suits, filed against the state mainly by same-sex couples, the top court will present its first constitutional interpretation as to the provisions related to same-sex marriage. Five of Japan’s high courts, namely those in Sapporo, Tokyo, Fukuoka, Nagoya and Osaka, ruled the provisions of the Civil Code and family register law, which do not allow same-sex marriage, are unconstitutional. The courts said the provisions violate Paragraph 1 of Article 14 of the Constitution, which stipulates equality under the law, and Paragraph 2 of Article 24, stipulating that marriage laws be based on individual dignity. In addition, the Sapporo court ruled that the provisions in question violate freedom of marriage as guaranteed in Paragraph 1 of Article 24, while the Fukuoka court said they violate the right of citizens to pursue happiness as stipulated in Article 13. Meanwhile, Tokyo High Court in another lawsuit gave a ruling last November that the provisions are constitutional, saying it is reasonable to interpret a married couple as a pair of a man and a woman in legal terms. This ruling was in line with the government’s argument denying that same-sex marriage is guaranteed by the Constitution. In all six cases, the plaintiffs’ damages claims were rejected. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]