ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to identify the problems in Japan’s refugee status determination procedure, analyse the backgrounds of those problems, and seek a potential prescription. To achieve this purpose, a comparative perspective in relation to the experiences of New Zealand and Australia is mobilised as a research method.1 It does not imply in any sense that the determination procedures of New Zealand and Australia are the most progressive and that Japan should duplicate either the New Zealand or Australian model, viewing it to be of paramount virtue. Just as with the other state parties in Europe and other regions which employ various procedural restrictions, there are elements of the practice in New Zealand and Australia that are open to criticism.2 Even if it is granted that their sophistication is considerable, it
1 Comparative law is a valuable research tool for identification and analysis of problems. ‘Comparative law is a method of analysing the problems and institutions originating from two or more national laws of legal systems, or of comparing entire legal systems in order to acquire a better understanding thereof, or provide information, and insight into, the operation of the system’s institutions or the systems themselves’: Peter de Cruz, Comparative Law in a Changing World (2nd ed., Cavendish Publishing Ltd, London, 1999) 9. Comparative law is also useful for finding the common principles and rules shared by some, or even the multitude, of the world’s systems: Rudolf B Schlesinger and others, Comparative Law: Cases-TextMaterials (5th ed., University Casebook Series, Foundation Press, New York, 1991) 35. In the context of international law, the inclusion of the general principles of law recognised by civilised nations as a source of law in article 38(1)(c) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice (26 June 1945) 961 UNTS 183 is often used to demonstrate the utility of comparative law. For instance see Michael Bogdan, Comparative Law (Kluwer Law & Taxation, A co-publication with TANO, Deventer, 1994) 33-34.
