The highest court was filed in a lawsuit filed by the government to approve the construction work on behalf of Okinawa Prefecture, which is against the government's opposition to ground improvement work off the coast of Henoko in Nago City, where the U.S. military's Futenma base in Okinawa will be relocated. The court decided to dismiss the appeal, and the prefecture's defeat was finalized.
This has made it extremely difficult for the prefecture to take legal action.
Off the coast of Henoko, Nago City, where the Futenma Air Base is being relocated, soft ground was found on the north side of the planned reclamation site, which covers about 70% of the area, and the national government applied for a design change in order to proceed with ground improvement work. However, Okinawa Prefecture, which opposed the proposal, ``disapproved'' it.
For this reason, the national government filed a lawsuit last year seeking ``proxy execution'' to approve the prefecture on behalf of the prefecture, and the Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court concluded, ``The dangers of the Futenma base greatly affect people's lives and bodies. The government ordered the prefecture to approve the construction work, saying that doing so would infringe on public interests.
The prefecture appealed the ruling and submitted a statement of reasons stating, ``The only way to resolve the issue is through dialogue with residents to reach a consensus.We should not allow the judiciary to pave the way for proxy execution.'' However, Chief Justice Masaaki Oka of the First Petty Bench of the Supreme Court decided to dismiss the appeal by the 1st.
In response to the high court's ruling, the national government took steps to approve the project on behalf of the prefecture, and construction began in January this year.
The national government and the prefecture have been fighting in various courts over changes to the design of the improvement work, but with this decision, the prefecture has lost the case, making it extremely difficult to fight back through legal means.
Governor Tamaki: ``Extremely disappointing''
After the Supreme Court decided to dismiss Okinawa Prefecture's appeal and the prefecture's defeat was confirmed, Governor Tamaki held a press conference and said, ``As a guardian of the law, I had hoped for a just verdict until the end.'' It is extremely unfortunate that the judicial branch has turned the corner on this case without making any concrete decisions,'' he said, criticizing the court's decision.