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6/25/2020 Details of 1999 (Gyo-Tsu) 35 | 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 1999 (Gyo-Tsu) 35 Back Date of the judgment (decision) 1999.11.10 Case Number 1999 (Gyo-Tsu) 35 Reporter Minshu Vol.53, No.8, at 1704 Judgment upon the case concerning 1) Constitutionality of the small constituency system for the election of the House of Representatives Title 2) Constitutionality of provisions of the Law on Public Election which allow election campaigns by political parties which have presented candidates to the election for the members of the House of Representatives in small constituencies Case name Claim for the Invalidity of an Election Result Judgment of the Grand Bench, dismissed by the Supreme Court Court of the Prior Instance Tokyo High Court, Judgment of October 9, 1998 1 The small constituency system adopted by the Law on Public Elections for the election of the House of Representatives is not against the principle of the people's representation as provided by the Constitution. 2 Provisions of the Law on Public Election which allow election campaigns that include the broadcasting of political views by political Summary of the judgment (decision) parties which have presented candidates to the election for the members of the House of Representatives in small constituencies, result in a diﬀerence concerning the election campaign between candidates who belong to a political party and those who do not, but it cannot be determined that this diﬀerence is of such a degree that it is not generally reasonable, and therefore, is not against Article 14, paragraph 1 of the Constitution.(on Item 2, there are dissenting opinions) References Article 43, paragraph 1 of the Constitution, Articles 13, paragraph 1, 95, paragraph 1 of the Law on Public Election, Article 14, paragraph 1 https://www.courts.go.jp/app/hanrei_en/detail?id=458 1/23

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1999 (Gyo Tsu) 35 [Judgment of the Grant Bench, dismissed by the Supreme Court]

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether the unequal treatment between independent and political party candidates regarding broadcasting during campaigns was unconstitutional.

Alleged Acts: The small constituency system is constitutional; however, the Law on Public Elections allows candidates from political parties to broadcast campaign materials, but does not provide the same for independent candidates. The plaintiffs sought invalidation of the small constituency framework based on unequal opportunities to candidates.

Summary: The representation system is left to the Diet and the small constituency method may only be overturned if the representation is found to be in excess of that discretion. The court determined that reason for the political broadcasting difference seeks to combat the greater number of candidates running in smaller constituencies. However, the court determined that the broadcasting difference produced both quality and quantity differences in the candidates from these areas. Further, the role of broadcasting in modern elections had surmounted to an unreasonable difference in the candidate campaign mechanisms.

Conclusion: The court found that while there were differences concerning the campaigns between independent candidates and those who belong to a political party, this difference was not to such a degree that it was not generally reasonable. Therefore, it was not unconstitutional.

Legal Issue(s)

Electoral Maps and Districting
Social Media

Region: Asia-Pacific

Country: Japan

Language of Decision

English

Court: Supreme Court

Election Type: Review of law

Date of decision: Oct 19, 1999

Geolocation

Latitude: 35.73293063

Longitude: 139.7553762

: Geolocation

Primary Documents

1999 (Gyo-Tsu) 35 _ Judgments of the Supreme Court.pdf
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