Japan Press Weekly

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2016 November 16 - 22 [POLITICS]

JCP Yamazoe: ISDS clause in TPP will bypass Japan’s jurisdiction

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Yamazoe Taku on November 21 at a House TPP Special Committee demanded the withdrawal from the TPP agreement as its Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) clause, which is included for the protection of multinational corporations’ interests, will deny Japan’s jurisdictional rights.

Yamazoe noted that since the 1990s, multinational firms used the ISDS mechanism to sue countries and invalidate court decisions made under domestic laws.

As an example, the JCP lawmaker cited a case where Ecuadorian courts ordered a major U.S. oil company to compensate for environmental damages. In this case, the oil firm won the invalidation of the ruling by taking it to the international arbitration tribunal based on the ISDS caluse.

Yamazoe asked whether the government will follow the arbitrator’s judgement which will nullify Japanese court decisions passed in the national interest.

Minister in charge of TPP issues Ishihara Nobuteru replied, “From the viewpoint of abiding by the treaty, the government will accept arbitral awards.” Foreign Minister Kishida Fumio said that it is necessary to hornor the ISDS procedure.

Yamazoe stressed that under the TPP, Japan will be bound to obey the ISDS arbitration process rather than the domestic legal process. He went on to call for the rejection of such an unfair framework.

Past related articles:
> ISDS provisions in TPP will cause damage to Japanese local economies [April 3, 2016]
> Lawyers say ‘TPP conflicts with Constitution’ [July 30, 2013]
> ISDS enables multinationals to sue governments [December 8&9, 2011]