In May, the Grand Bench of the Supreme Court heard arguments from the parties in a case in which people who were forced to undergo sterilization due to disabilities or other reasons under the old Eugenics Protection Act are seeking compensation from the state. decided to open it. The focus is on whether the former Eugenics Protection Act violated the Constitution and whether there is a right to seek compensation, and a unified judgment is expected to be made in the summer.
Under the former Eugenics Protection Law, which lasted from 1948 to 1996 shortly after the war, more than 16,000 people are said to have been forced to undergo sterilization due to disabilities or other reasons.
Regarding this, lawsuits have been filed against the government all over the country on the grounds that it is ``based on discriminatory ideology and violates the constitution,'' and the Grand Bench of the Supreme Court has ruled in the high courts of Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, and Osaka. We have decided to hold arguments on May 29th to hear the arguments of the parties regarding the five cases that have been filed and are being appealed.
In all five cases, the high court acknowledged that ``the former Eugenics Protection Law violated the Constitution,'' but while in four cases the government was ordered to pay compensation, the case brought by a woman in Miyagi Prefecture The Sendai High Court rejected the lawsuit, saying that the ``disqualification period'' for seeking compensation had passed more than 20 years ago.
The focus is on whether the old Eugenics Protection Act violated the Constitution and whether there is a right to seek compensation, and all 15 judges will hear the matter in the Grand Court, and a unified decision will be made as early as this summer. This is the outlook.