Japan Press Weekly

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2015 December 16 - 22 [POLITICS]

Lawyers will initiate action in courts to challenge war legislation’s constitutionality

A group of lawyers opposing the controversial national security-related legislation on December 21 held a press conference in the Diet building to announce a plan to demonstrate clearly how unconstitutional the legislation is through legal action against the state.

The group said that when the war laws go into effect in March 2016, it will file two types of lawsuits with eight district courts across Japan: a lawsuit seeking an injunction to stop using the war laws to send Japan’s Self-Defense Forces abroad and a lawsuit demanding state compensation for damages due to infringement on the constitutional right to live in peace.

Explaining the intent of the lawsuits, the lawyers indicated that a wide range of people such as WWII survivors, residents around military bases, NGO members whose activities would suffer interference by the security legislation, and medical professionals will be involved as plaintiffs in the two lawsuits.

About 300 lawyers are now expressing their intent to participate in this legal battle.