Hiroshima man files lawsuit over cabinet decision on nation’s right to collective self-defense
Aug. 20, 2014
by Hiroshi Ebisu, Staff Writer
It was learned on August 11 that a Hiroshima resident has filed a lawsuit in the Hiroshima District Court over the cabinet’s approval of exercising the right to collective self-defense. The Japanese government decided to reinterpret the Constitution to permit the use of collective self-defense in July. Haruyuki Sugibayashi, 74, an office worker living in Higashi Ward, contends that the government’s decision is unconstitutional and seeks a court judgment that the decision is invalid.
The complaint recounts how successive cabinets have approved only the right to the nation’s own self-defense, which permits Japan to repulse invaders. The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided that Japan will be allowed to use the minimum amount of force necessary “if the country’s existence is threatened” due to an armed attack on Japan or “countries with close ties.”
The complaint also contends that the cabinet’s decision itself is unconstitutional since it did not follow the procedures necessary for amending the Constitution, including gaining approval of a majority of voters by referendum.
Mr. Sugibayashi said he experienced an air raid in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, on July 1, 1945, when he was five years old. He said, “The Abe administration is walking a path to war. This is unacceptable, and peace cannot be achieved by military force.”
After the cabinet’s decision involving collective self-defense, Mitsushige Yamanaka, the mayor of Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture, announced that he will file suit to overturn the move. A former employee of the prefectural government of Mie has also submitted a complaint with the Tokyo District Court. An official at the Cabinet Secretariat’s National Security Secretariat said, “We have not seen these complaints, so we cannot comment.”
(Originally published on August 12, 2014)
It was learned on August 11 that a Hiroshima resident has filed a lawsuit in the Hiroshima District Court over the cabinet’s approval of exercising the right to collective self-defense. The Japanese government decided to reinterpret the Constitution to permit the use of collective self-defense in July. Haruyuki Sugibayashi, 74, an office worker living in Higashi Ward, contends that the government’s decision is unconstitutional and seeks a court judgment that the decision is invalid.
The complaint recounts how successive cabinets have approved only the right to the nation’s own self-defense, which permits Japan to repulse invaders. The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided that Japan will be allowed to use the minimum amount of force necessary “if the country’s existence is threatened” due to an armed attack on Japan or “countries with close ties.”
The complaint also contends that the cabinet’s decision itself is unconstitutional since it did not follow the procedures necessary for amending the Constitution, including gaining approval of a majority of voters by referendum.
Mr. Sugibayashi said he experienced an air raid in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, on July 1, 1945, when he was five years old. He said, “The Abe administration is walking a path to war. This is unacceptable, and peace cannot be achieved by military force.”
After the cabinet’s decision involving collective self-defense, Mitsushige Yamanaka, the mayor of Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture, announced that he will file suit to overturn the move. A former employee of the prefectural government of Mie has also submitted a complaint with the Tokyo District Court. An official at the Cabinet Secretariat’s National Security Secretariat said, “We have not seen these complaints, so we cannot comment.”
(Originally published on August 12, 2014)
