ABSTRACT
Japan’s Constitution recites a long list of individual rights to be protected against government interference and empowers the Supreme Court to judge cases in which individuals claim violations. The Court has been extremely reluctant to rule against the government in these cases. This chapter describes recent cases that raise constitutional challenges, including historic decisions in which the Court did rule on behalf of aggrieved parties. Following those decisions, some commentators suggested the Court had changed and may exhibit a greater willingness to restrain government action. Due to unfettered Cabinet discretion to select Supreme Court justices, exercised in secret, the chapter concludes that the long-standing pattern of a Court highly deferential to the other branches of government is likely to remain unchanged.
