Still in State of Unconstitutional

The judicial branch questioned the status of lawmakers again. The Supreme Court sentenced on Wednesday that the election of House of Representatives in last December had been done in a state of unconstitutional, not going to the extent of making it void. The court determined that the disparity in value of each vote was at the level of intolerable. While the legislative branch was urged for immediate adjustment of election system, parties are still lagging behind in fundamental reform.

In the election last December, the number of voters in 4th District of Chiba was 2.30 times greater than that in 3rd District of Kochi. The Supreme Court estimated that the distribution of constituency had been unacceptable to guarantee equal value of one vote.

The Court decided in 2011 that the value gap between votes needed to be contained within two times at least and the system of proportional constituency after distributing one seat to each prefecture in the election of the House of Representatives should be abolished. In the last election, number of voters was greater over two times than in 3rd District of Kochi in 13 districts. The Court concluded that negative aspect of prior distribution of one vote to each prefecture had not actually been removed.

Two judges out of the fourteen added their opinion that last election had to be nullified. “Distortion in election system is critical. Ignorance of judicial power for constitutional review by the Diet is significant,” told Judge Masaharu Ohashi, requiring nullification when 6 months passed from the sentence of the Supreme Court. “We cannot keep on sentencing without nullification, if elections would be repeated with this situation,” told Judge Michiyoshi Kiuchi, warning the lawmakers. Meanwhile, one Judge decided that the election was constitutional, positively assessing the effort for reforming election system.

In the responsibility cabinet system in Japan, unconstitutionality of election directly leads to legitimacy of Cabinet and Prime Minister. Liberal Democratic Party led by Shinzo Abe achieved sweeping victory in the election last December. The Supreme Court literally denied the legal basis of Abe administration. There is an opinion among lawyers that all policies delivered from unconstitutional administration should be void.

A committee by legal experts launched by the House of Representatives has been discussing appropriate election system and going to submit their conclusion early next year. However, it is unclear whether all party will abide by the recommendation of the committee. While LDP considers partial reform of the election system, Japan Communist Party demands abolition of single-seat constituency system. The Diet does not seem to have enough power to regulate the difference of opinion.