Social Sciences
According to a new paper, Transfer of Power at Japan?s Justice Ministry, by Japan legal scholar Larry Repeta, "one of the more startling appointments to the new Cabinet is that of Yokohama lawyer Chiba Keiko to be Minister of Justice."
He writes that:
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I am a recent graduate of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, and have begun work as a Research Assistant to Prof. Madhava Menon at the Commission on Centre-State Relations, Government of India. My primary areas of interest and public...
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Social Sciences
Japan's Justice Ministry
According to a new paper, Transfer of Power at Japan?s Justice Ministry, by Japan legal scholar Larry Repeta, "one of the more startling appointments to the new Cabinet is that of Yokohama lawyer Chiba Keiko to be Minister of Justice."
He writes that:
the authority of the Ministry is great, with responsibility to enforce criminal laws, protect individual rights, manage the immigration system, and generally oversee the legal system itself, including preparation and review of draft legislation. Ms. Chiba?s appointment should result in a sharp change in policy. She brings with her a history of more than two decades in the Diet in which she opposed nearly all LDP initiatives related to Ministry operations."
If there was any doubt on this score, she wiped it away in formal comments released on September 16, the day the new Cabinet took office. In her first message to the nation as Minister, Chiba declared that her mission is to help build a society that respects human rights and a judicial system that is ?close to the people? (kokumin ni mijika na shiho). To achieve this, she listed three specific steps. First is the establishment of a new human rights agency. Second is ratification of so-called ?Optional Protocols? to human rights treaties. Third is creating transparency in criminal interrogations.
Implementing these measures will not be easy. Establishing an independent commission and ratifying treaty protocols requires Diet action. Although the DPJ and its allies hold strong majorities, there will surely be voices seeking to protect the status quo. Progress on these issues will indicate the degree to which Japan?s new governors are willing to expend political capital on poorly understood measures related to human rights protection. Whatever the result, there is no doubt that this government takes a fundamentally different view of its obligations under Japanese law and human rights treaties from what we have seen in the past.Transfer of Power at Japan?s Justice Ministry by Lawrence Repeta, Omiya Law School in Japan, presently a visiting scholar at the University of Washington, The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 44-2-09, November 2, 2009.
- Conference On Human Rights And The Global Economy
Join us as experts and scholars explore human rights as a mediating language for discussions of social justice and the global economy. How do democracy, social justice, and international human rights law constrain international trade and intellectual...
- Madhav Khosla
I am a recent graduate of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, and have begun work as a Research Assistant to Prof. Madhava Menon at the Commission on Centre-State Relations, Government of India. My primary areas of interest and public...
- Siddharth Narrain
Siddharth Narrain is a legal researcher at The Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore. His areas of interest include, sexuality rights, media laws and judicial decisions related to socio-economic rights in India. Mr Narrain has worked s a journalist for Frontline...
- Sally E Merry
Sally Engle Merry is Professor of Anthropology and of Law and Society at New York University. Her work explores the role of law in urban life in the US, in the colonizing process, and in contemporary transnationalism. She is currently doing a comparative,...
- Japan On Human Rights
Not so Shared Values: Japan distances itself from the US on Human RightsThe Sri Lankan government welcomed the Japanese declaration on March 13th (see video) that "no country has a perfect record on human rights." Although only an observer to the UN...