Confirming Illegality of Governor

Second Petty Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Judge Kaoru Onimaru, on Wednesday dismissed an appeal of Governor of Okinawa, Takashi Onaga, which requested dismissal of a decision of lower court that determined Onaga’s cancellation of former approval on landfill in Henoko coastal area had been illegal. Onimaru found that Onaga could not cancel the approval as long as former decision had not been illegal or inappropriate, escaping from a decision over the opposition of powers between national and local government.

The landfill for building new United States Force’s base in Henoko was approved against overwhelming opposition of the people in Okinawa by former Governor, Hirokazu Nakaima, in 2013. After Onaga cancelled the approval last year, Government of Japan ordered Onaga to “correct” the cancellation. Receiving disobedience from Onaga, the national government sued him to Fukuoka High Court, which found illegality of Onaga three months ago.

In her announcement of reason of the decision, Onimaru explained that approval of Nakaima for the landfill could not be inappropriate, because building of new base in Henoko would reduce total area of airbases in Okinawa and avoid flying over private houses by using runways connecting to the air space over the sea. The decision by Nakaima was not recognized as inappropriate.

It became the first case to decide on an opposition between local and national governments after Local Autonomy Act was revised in 2012, which made national government able to sue local government in order to reconfirm illegality of disobedience by local government. However, the Bench only decided on illegality of governor’s decision and did not get into whether local government had to obey to any order from national government.

In the decision in September, Naha Branch of Fukuoka High Court required local government should pay respect for a plan of national government as long as it would not be irrational. The court also made an opinion that building new base in Henoko was inevitable to reduce danger in Futenma Marine Airbase. Some legal experts found the decision of the Supreme Court to be moderate, because it did not take such excessive opinion by Fukuoka High Court.

The decision does not settle the argument over new base, anyway. “I was deeply disappointed to the decision that did not have any viewpoint on parity between local and national governments. I am going forward with the people in Okinawa not to let national government build new base in Henoko,” told Onaga. One expert thought that the Supreme Court should turn down the indictment of national government and urge both sides to have further discussion.