In a series of lawsuits filed against the government by people who were forced to undergo sterilization under the former Eugenic Protection Law, the Sendai High Court will hand down the verdict of the second trial in Sendai, which was the first in the case.
The first court rejected the appeal on the grounds of the passage of time, but since then, there have been a series of judgments ordering the government to compensate in various places, and the judgment of the second trial is attracting attention.
Five years ago, a woman in her 60s in Miyagi Prefecture who was forced to undergo sterilization under the former Eugenic Protection Law filed a lawsuit for the first time in the Sendai District Court seeking compensation from the national government, claiming that she was deprived of the right to bear and raise children, and a woman in her 5s later joined the plaintiffs.
This lawsuit sparked similar lawsuits across the country.
In the Sendai trial, the year after the first trial filed the lawsuit, the court ruled that the former Eugenic Protection Law violated the Constitution, but dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that 70 years had passed since the surgery and the right to claim compensation had expired.
Since then, plaintiffs have continued to lose lawsuits in courts around the country due to the passage of time, but since the Osaka High Court recognized the government's liability for compensation for the first time last year, the course of judicial decisions has changed, and so far seven judgments have been issued in favor of the lawsuit.
Under these circumstances, the Sendai High Court of the second trial will hand down the judgment on the Sendai trial at 1 p.m. on the 20st.
It will be interesting to see what kind of judgment will be presented in the trial that pioneered the search for judicial relief.
Plaintiff ahead of ruling: "I hope it's a good ruling"
The plaintiff, Junko Iizuka (pseudonym, 77), who lives in Miyagi Prefecture, was sterilized at the age of 16 without being informed because she had a mild intellectual disability.
When I learned that I had undergone surgery through a conversation with my parents, I went to the hospital to see if they could return me to a body that could bear children, but the doctor told me that it was impossible, and I got married, but when I confided in him about the sterilization, my husband left the house.
Later, I was diagnosed as having no disability, but I suffered from physical and mental problems due to the effects of the surgery, and I was unable to get the nursing care job I wanted to do.
We have been suing for more than 20 years to demand an apology and compensation from the state, but we were initially unable to file a lawsuit because the surgical materials were discarded.
However, five years ago, a woman in her 5s in Miyagi Prefecture filed a lawsuit for the first time in Japan, and the prefecture recognized that she had undergone surgery, and she joined the trial as a plaintiff herself.
Ahead of the verdict on January 60, Mr. Iizuka said, "I hope it will be a good ruling, and it doesn't matter how long we can claim compensation, for those of us who have been suffering for a long time. My life won't go back to normal, but I think I would have been happy if I hadn't had the surgery, so I want the government to apologize firmly."
In addition, the sister-in-law of a woman in her 1s who filed the lawsuit first said, "Right now, there are many victory judgments in various places, and I hope that the court will win the reversal. In order to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities, I would like the government to reflect on the past and prevent the same thing from happening again."