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6/25/2020 Details of 2001 (Gyo-Tsu) 82 | Judgments of the Supreme Court 2. Application under the preceding paragraph shall be ﬁled, as provided by Cabinet Order, through the consular who has jurisdiction over the applicant's address in regard to application for listing on the overseas electoral register (or the person designated by Ministry of Internal Aﬀairs and Communications Order or Ministry of Foreign Aﬀairs Order in areas designated by Ministry of Internal Aﬀairs and Communications Order or Ministry of Foreign Aﬀairs Order as areas where it is extremely diﬃcult to ﬁle an application through the consular; hereinafter the same in this chapter). 3. When an application is ﬁled under the preceding paragraph, the consular shall, as provided by Cabinet Order, immediately send the application form under Paragraph 1 with his or her comments on the eligibility of the applicant to the municipal election management commission governing the area where the applicant has the last address (or the municipal election management commission governing the area where the applicant had the registered domicile at the time of application if he or she has never been listed on any municipality's basic resident register). Article 30-6 (Listing on overseas electoral register) 1. The municipal election management commission shall, without delay, list the person who has ﬁled an application under Paragraph 1 of the preceding article on the overseas electoral register if the person who has ﬁled the application is eligible to be listed on the municipality's overseas electoral register. 2. Notwithstanding the provision of the preceding paragraph, the municipal election management commission shall not list any person during the period from the date of oﬃcial announcement of the date of an election of members of the House of Representatives or members of the House of Councillors until the date of the election. 3. Having made listing under Paragraph 1, the municipal election management commission shall provide the person who has ﬁled an application under Paragraph 1 of the preceding article with a certiﬁcate that the person is listed on the overseas electoral register (hereinafter referred to as "overseas voter certiﬁcate") through the counsel who has sent the application form under the said paragraph in accordance with Paragraph 3 of the said article. Article 30-7 (Public inspection of overseas electoral register) 1. The municipal election management commission shall, quarterly and every time an election of members of House of Representatives or members of the House of Councillors is held, make available for public inspection, for a period designated by Cabinet Order and at the municipal oﬃce or other place designated by the municipal election management commission, the documents containing the name of the person listed on the overseas electoral register in accordance with Paragraph 1 of the preceding article, the title of the consular concerned (the consular who has sent the application form under Article 30-5(1) concerning the person listed on the overseas electoral register in accordance with Paragraph 3 of the said article; hereinafter the same in this paragraph), and the person's last address and date of birth (the name and date of birth of the person listed on the overseas electoral register and the title of the consular concerned in the case where the person has never been listed on any municipality's basic resident register). 2. The municipal election management commission shall announce the place of public inspection at least three days prior to the date of commencement of public inspection. Article 30-8 (Filing of objection to listing on overseas electoral register) 1. The provisions of Article 24(1) and (2) shall apply mutatis mutandis to the ﬁling of objection to listing on the overseas electoral register. 2. The provisions of Article 15(1)(i) to (iv) and (vi), Article 15(4), Article 21, Article 25, Article 26, Article 31, Article 36, Article 39, and Article 44 of the Administrative Appeal Law shall apply mutatis mutandis to the ﬁling of objection under Article 24(1) that is https://www.courts.go.jp/app/hanrei_en/detail?id=1264 5/21

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2001 (Gyo Tsu) 82 Judgments of the Supreme Court

Judgment

Alleged Acts: Citizens filed suit alleging that they lacked an address in Japan and were residing outside of the municipality at the time of the election. Because of their status they were deprived of the right to vote.

Summary: The court stated that it was a legislative necessity to establish a voting procedure for citizens without an address in Japan to vote. First, a bill was introduced in 1984 which would expanding global diplomatic centers to permit Japanese citizen to vote in the countries where they were currently living. In October 20, 1996 the a bill was intended to be fully executed to enable these citizens to vote. The court found no mechanism to do so and stated that these citizens were unconstitutionally deprived of the right to vote. Even though the individuals resided outside of the jurisdiction, they still had the right to vote so long as they remained Japanese citizens.

Conclusion: The court order that the state pay 5,000 yen to each eligible citizen for the mental distress from being unable to vote in the election process.

Legal Issue(s)

Accessibility
Elections as a Fundamental Right

Region: Asia-Pacific

Country: Japan

Language of Decision

English

Court: Supreme Court

Election Type: Review of law

Date of decision: Sep 14, 2001

Geolocation

Latitude: 35.73293063

Longitude: 139.7553762

: Geolocation

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2001 (Gyo Tsu) 82 Judgments of the Supreme Court

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