Former eugenics protection lawsuit Judgment ordering the government to compensate Sendai District Court

In a lawsuit in which two men in Miyagi Prefecture sought compensation from the government for being forced to undergo sterilization under the former Eugenic Protection Law, the Sendai District Court ordered the government to pay 16.5 million yen per person. rice field.

This is the fifth case in a series of lawsuits that have taken place across the country to order compensation from the government.

Two men in their 70s and 80s who live in Miyagi Prefecture are demanding compensation of 33 million yen from the government for being forced to undergo sterilization operations under the former Eugenic Protection Law when they were teenagers. I was.

In the ruling on the 6th, Presiding Judge Aya Takahashi of the Sendai District Court said, "The former Eugenic Protection Law violated the freedom to decide whether to have children, which is guaranteed by the Constitution. It is unconstitutional because it treats people discriminatoryly," and ordered the government to pay 16.5 million yen per person.

The lawsuit over the former Eugenic Protection Law was first filed five years ago at the Sendai District Court by a different plaintiff, and has since spread nationwide.

In that trial, the Sendai District Court dismissed the lawsuit the following year, arguing that 20 years had passed since the sterilization surgery and the claim for compensation had expired, and courts around the country continued to lose the plaintiffs' lawsuits.

However, after the Osaka High Court acknowledged the country's liability for compensation for the first time last year, a series of decisions were made to recognize the plaintiff's suit, and the Sendai District Court's ruling this time follows that trend.

This brings the total number of rulings that have ordered compensation to the state to five.

Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare “Scrutinize the content and respond appropriately”

Regarding the ruling of the Sendai District Court, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said, ``We recognize that the government's claim was not accepted.In the future, we will carefully examine the contents of the ruling and consult with the relevant ministries and agencies, and then respond appropriately.'' .