Japan Press Weekly

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2014 June 4 - 10 [POLITICS]

High court rejects state appeal against court-imposed fine over Isahaya Bay dike

The Fukuoka High Court on June 6 decided to reject an appeal from the national government against the Saga District Court order to pay 10,000 yen per day to each plaintiff fisherman or to open a sluice gate in Isahaya Bay.

A group of 49 fishermen operating in the bay has been waging a court battle against the state which closed the gate in 1997 as part of the state-run Isahaya Bay reclamation project. In December 2010, an order of the Fukuoka High Court to open the gate was finalized. The state administration, however, has yet to follow the order and thus the 49 plaintiffs filed with the Saga District Court a request to impose a fine on the state during the period of its refusal to open the gate.

The district court in April stated that if failing to open the gate by June 11, the state authorities must pay 10,000 yen a day to each of the 49 fishermen.

The state appealed this ruling to the higher court. It stressed the need to maintain the closure on the grounds of a delay in a state project to reduce damage to farmers at the reclaimed land in the bay and an injunction order of the Nagasaki District Court to keep the gate shut. Pointing out that even if the project shows little progress, the state can decide to open the gate, the high court upheld the Saga court order.

The plaintiffs’ group and their lawyers in a statement demanded that without resorting to claiming to be stuck in a complex situation, the national government open the gate immediately by implementing thorough measures to protect farming from damage.

Past related article:
> Court again orders gov’t to open troublemaking dike in 2 months [April 12, 2014]