Ordering Disclosure of Clandestine Budget

Supreme Court made the first decision to disclose the secret budget in Prime Minister’s Official Residence on Friday. In a case filed by a civil group, in which they required full disclosure of Confidential Expenses of Cabinet Secretariat, Second Petty Bench ordered the Cabinet to open a part of their expenditure. This is the first attempt to a normal use of taxed money, which has been under arbitrariness of the administration.

Confidential Expenditure is a budget for Chief Cabinet Secretary to spend for important political purposes. Although total amount of the spending is disclosed, the details of the expenditure would be concealed as the top secret of the administration. The budget is categorized in three: policy promotion fund for free use of CCS, research and information management fund for rewarding information supplier and activity related fund for gifts or condolences to support for acquiring information.

Political Money Ombudsman in Osaka demanded disclosure of document about when, to whom and how much Confidential Expenditure had been used in three Cabinets. They were ¥1.1 billion in Jun-ichiro Koizumi Cabinet under control of CCS Shinzo Abe, ¥250 million in Taro Aso Cabinet under CCS Takeo Kawamura and ¥1.36 billion in Shinzo Abe Cabinet under CCS Yoshihide Suga. The group requested full disclosure of expenditure in three categories.

Supreme Court found that a part of policy promotion fund could be disclosed without disturbing governmental management. The objects of disclosure were balance sheet of policy promotion fund that recorded income and spending, list of monthly income and spending and withdrawal details book that would be submitted to Board of Audit. Presiding Justice of Second Petty Bench Tsuneyuki Yamamoto decided that disclosure of policy promotion expenditure would not reveal date or amount of the spending. He also recognized the necessity of concealing information management fund and activity related fund.

Confidential Expenses has been regarded as the budget for clandestine activities of the administration. But actual spending was mainly giving money to the opposite parties as a reward of passing bills important for the administration. CCS Kawamura was doubted that he arbitrarily used ¥250 million in September 2009, when Liberal Democratic Party lost in the general election and was fated to be dropped out of the administration.

Civil groups are encouraged by the decision of Supreme Court. “Chief Cabinet Secretary can no longer spend the fund at his disposal. It will be a deterrence against nonsense spending,” told the head of the plaintiff. CCS Suga soberly told that he would deal with the budget appropriately in his press conference.