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6/25/2020 Details of 2001 (Gyo-Tsu) 233 | Judgments of the Supreme Court  move to the main contents Sitemap About this site Privacy Policy search by keyword About the Judicial System Supreme Court  in Japan Publications Japanese  Judgments of the The Legal Training and The Training and Research Supreme Supreme Court Research Institute of Japan Institute for Court Oﬃcials Court Library Judgments of the Supreme Court TOP > Supreme Court of Japan > Judgments of the Supreme Court > Search Results 2001 (Gyo-Tsu) 233 Back Date of the judgment (decision) 2001.12.18 Case Number 2001 (Gyo-Tsu) 233 Reporter Minshu Vol. 55, No. 7, at 1712 Judgment concerning the constitutionality of the dual candidacy Title system adopted for elections of members of the House of Representatives under the Public Oﬃces Election Law Case name Case to seek nulliﬁcation of an election Result Judgment of the Third Petty Bench, dismissed Court of the Prior Instance Tokyo High Court, judgment of April 25, 2001 1. The provisions of the Public Oﬃces Election Law, under which only persons who belong to political parties or groups that satisfy certain requirements are allowed to become a candidate both in an election of members of the House of Representatives under the single-seat constituency system and an election of members of the House of Representatives under the proportional representation system, and persons in dual candidacy who fail to win a seat in the former election Summary of the judgment (decision) may win a seat in the latter election depending on the ranking on the candidate list, cannot be deemed to be in violation of Article 14, Article 15(1) and (3), or the proviso of Article 44 of the Constitution or the constitutional requirement of direct election. 2. The proportional representation system adopted for an election of members of the House of Representatives under the Public Oﬃces Election Law cannot be deemed to be in violation of Article 15(1) or (3) or Article 43(1) of the Constitution References (Concerning 1 and 2) Articles 15(1) and (3), and 43(1) of the Constitution, Articles 86-2 and 95-2 of the Public Oﬃces Election Law; (Concerning 1) Articles 14(1) and 44 of the Constitution, Article https://www.courts.go.jp/app/hanrei_en/detail?id=569 1/9

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2001 (Gyo Tsu) 233 [Case to Seeking Nullification of the Election]

Judgment

Alleged Acts: The proportional representation system, as devised by the Diet, disallows particular candidates from participating in two simultaneous elections. In order for a individual to just as a candidate in two election they must belong to a political party that satisfies certain requirements.

Procedural history: The plaintiffs seek nullification of the election of members under the proportional representation system.

Summary: The court determined that the policy of permitted only certain candidates to run as dual candidates is a party-oriented system rather than a policy-oriented system. Thus, it is fully within the Diet’s discretion to determine that the system should permit parties to pull the political will together and continuously engage in multiple elections. This cannot be said to be an action beyond the Diet’s discretion because it does not restrict the right to run or the right to vote unreasonably. As more persons are included in the candidate list the importance of a campaign increases and some exclusion of dual candidates is not unreasonable under those circumstances.

Conclusion: Therefore, the plaintiff’s request is denied and the election results stand.

Legal Issue(s)

Candidate Registration

Region: Asia-Pacific

Country: Japan

Language of Decision

English

Court: Supreme Court

Election Type: Review of law

Date of decision: Dec 18, 2001

Geolocation

Latitude: 35.73293063

Longitude: 139.7553762

: Geolocation

Primary Documents

2001 (Gyo-Tsu) 233 _ Judgments of the Supreme Court.pdf
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