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The LDP's Constitutional Revisions: Turning Back the Clock?

The LDP Proposes Constitutional Changes to Tighten Government Control Over the People -- Will July Elections Give the Party Power to Act?

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Date: Thursday, May 23, 2013
Time: Door opens at 7:00 p.m., Program starts at 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall
212/213
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speakers:
. Lawrence Repeta, Professor at Meiji University
Faculty of Law (and former director of the Temple University School of Law, Tokyo Campus).
. Masako Kamiya, Professor of Law at Gakushuin
University and Representative Director of the Japan Civil Liberties Union
. Yoichi Kitamura, Representative Director of the
Japan Civil Liberties Union and co-counsel in many noteworthy cases, including litigation that led to the historic 2005 Supreme Court decision that found the Diet in violation of the Constitution for failing to adopt adequate voting procedures for Japanese who reside abroad.
Moderator: Thomas J. Dreves, General Counsel and Assistant Professor of Law at TUJ
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP: icas[at]tuj.temple.edu

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[Overview]

On April 28, 2012, the sixtieth anniversary of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, the Liberal Democratic Party celebrated the end to Japan's Occupation by releasing detailed and far-reaching proposals to revise Japan's Constitution.

Three generations of Japanese nationalists have carried the dream of fundamental change to the Constitution they say was imposed on Japan by foreign military forces. The LDP has proposed revision since its founding in 1955. Since taking office Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly declared that constitutional change is a high priority.

Will the July elections give Abe and his followers the chance to act?

Amendments to the Constitution must be approved by at least two-thirds of the members of each House of the Diet. The LDP and its allies secured more than two-thirds of the House of Representatives (the "Lower
House") in December 2012 elections. House of Councilors (the "Upper House") elections are scheduled for July and polls indicate that the LDP and its allies will score another landslide victory, pushing them over the threshold needed for constitutional change.

The April 2012 proposals provide a clear roadmap of the LDP plans for change. Several proposals would specifically limit individual rights.
They include the following:

. Elevating maintenance of "public order" over
all individual rights
. Granting the prime minister new power to
declare "states of emergency" when the government can suspend constitutional rights
. Deleting Article 97, the Constitution's most
powerful declaration of human rights, which guarantees all constitutional rights to the people of "this and future generations"
. Adding a new requirement that the people
"respect" the kimi ga yo ymn and the hinomaru flag
. Eliminating free speech protection for
activities "with the purpose of damaging the public interest or public order, or associating with others for such purposes"
. Hindering freedom of the press and opponents of
government by prohibiting the "wrongful acquisition, possession and use of information relating to a person."

Debate over constitutional amendment has long focused on Article 9, in which Japan renounces war, but the LDP's most-recently proposed amendments promise many more changes that would fundamentally change the relationship between the people and the State.

A panel of experts has agreed to come to TUJ and explain the significance of these enormously important proposals and to respond to questions and comments.

They will present the details of the LDP proposals, with English translations of proposed wording of key constitutional provisions alongside the present constitutional text.


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Finbarr McCarthy, Director and Associate Professor of Law Masako Tanaka, Coordinator Temple University Beasley School of Law ________________________________

Robert Dujarric, Director
Kyle Cleveland, Associate Director
Eriko Kawaguchi, Coordinator

Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies
Temple University, Japan Campus
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