History of the State Litigation System
Under the old Constitution (before World War II)
Under the old Constitution before World War II, as stipulated in the Code of Civil Procedure (Imperial Ordinance No. 3 of 1891) and the Act of Administrative Court (Act No. 48 of 1890), each government ministry or agency separately conducted civil lawsuits and administrative lawsuits relating to the affairs that they oversaw and supervised.
Founding of the State Litigation System
After the Constitution of Japan came into force following the end of World War II, the State Redress Act (Law No. 125 of 1947) was enacted. Although the state was previously not responsible even when public officials of the state caused damages as consequences of unlawful conduct in the course of their work (lack of state responsibility) concerning the power of the state, it is now possible to claim damages for such acts as well. At the same time, the Administrative Court was abolished, and administrative proceedings became subject to examination by judicial courts.
Subsequently, with the expectation that civil lawsuits and administrative lawsuits against the state would increase significantly and would raise complex legal issues, the State Litigation System, centrally executed by the Legal Affairs Agency (the present-day Ministry of Justice), was established. The aim of the centralized State Litigation System was to deal with all disputes related to the interests of the state to ensure that the interests of individuals and those of the people as a whole are harmonized and to secure the principle of law-based administration by properly resolving legal disputes between the state and the people.
The statutory basis of the State Litigation System was the Act Concerning the Authority of the Attorney General in State Interest Cases (Law No. 194 of 1947), which was later amended by the Act on the Authority of the Minister of Justice over Suits Relating to the Interests of the State (Act No. 268 of 1952) following organizational reforms such as the replacement of the Attorney General with the Minister of Justice in 1952. As such, the Minister of Justice now represented the government in cases involving the state (Article 1 of the same Act). For example, when filing a lawsuit against the “state,” the defendant’s indication on the complaint is: “Defendant: State Represented by Minister of Justice xxxx (Name)”.
Subsequently, with the expectation that civil lawsuits and administrative lawsuits against the state would increase significantly and would raise complex legal issues, the State Litigation System, centrally executed by the Legal Affairs Agency (the present-day Ministry of Justice), was established. The aim of the centralized State Litigation System was to deal with all disputes related to the interests of the state to ensure that the interests of individuals and those of the people as a whole are harmonized and to secure the principle of law-based administration by properly resolving legal disputes between the state and the people.
The statutory basis of the State Litigation System was the Act Concerning the Authority of the Attorney General in State Interest Cases (Law No. 194 of 1947), which was later amended by the Act on the Authority of the Minister of Justice over Suits Relating to the Interests of the State (Act No. 268 of 1952) following organizational reforms such as the replacement of the Attorney General with the Minister of Justice in 1952. As such, the Minister of Justice now represented the government in cases involving the state (Article 1 of the same Act). For example, when filing a lawsuit against the “state,” the defendant’s indication on the complaint is: “Defendant: State Represented by Minister of Justice xxxx (Name)”.