Meeting Agenda
1. Matters relating to a motion for approval of assignment of members to attend Open Hearing
Location for the next Open Hearing: Fukuoka Prefecture
Date: Monday, December 9, 2002
2. Matters relating to the establishment of subcommittees
It was decided, after discussion, to establish the Subcommittee on Guarantee
of Fundamental Human Rights, the Subcommittee on Fundamental and Organizational
Role of Politics, the Subcommittee on Japan's Role in International Society,
and the Subcommittee on Local Autonomy.
3. Matters relating to the Constitution of Japan
NAKAYAMA Taro, the leader of the House delegation dispatched to survey the constitutions of the United Kingdom and several Asian nations, presented a brief report on the findings. The report was followed by comments of individual delegation members, and the Commission members then engaged in free discussion.
Summary of the survey mission by the House delegation on the constitutions of the United Kingdom and several Asian nations
1. Composition of delegation:
- Leader: NAKAYAMA Taro
- Members: HANASHI Nobuyuki, NAKAGAWA Masaharu and HARUNA Naoaki
2. Mission period:
Monday September 23, 2002 to Saturday October 5, 2002
3. Mission destinations:
United Kingdom: Parliament; Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Constitution
Unit of University College London; etc.
Thailand: Constitutional Court; King Prajadhipok's Institute; etc.
Singapore: Attorney-General's Chambers; Ministry of Foreign Affairs; etc.*
China: People's University of China; People's Congress Hall; etc.
Republic of Korea: National Assembly, Constitutional Court, National Human
Rights Commission.
* Staff of the Japanese embassies in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia
and Indonesia were invited to the official residence of the Japanese Ambassador
to Singapore to give information and answer questions on the constitutions
of those countries.
4. Outline of the survey in the United Kingdom:
[1] Joint Committee on Human Rights (Commons Committee Clerk Paul Evans)
The delegation received the following explanation concerning the guarantee of human rights in the United Kingdom.
(a) The United Kingdom enacted the Human Rights Act in 1998 to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into English law.
(b) At that time, the maintenance of parliamentary sovereignty was a problematic
issue.
[2] Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Minister of State, Local Government and the Regions, Nick Raynsford; and Mr. Ian Scotter, Head of Regional Assembly Division, Regional Policy Unit, Eland House)
The delegation received the following explanation concerning policies on local government under the Blair administration.
(a)The Labour Party administration of Prime Minister Blair is promoting the devolution of authority via the establishment of regional legislatures in Scotland, Wales and North Ireland, and now in England.
(b) These efforts not only increase government efficiency, but also respond
to the expectations of citizens who are concerned with government participation.
[3] University College London (Professor Robert Hazell)
The delegation received the following explanation concerning the reform of the House of Lords and the relationships between elected officials and the bureaucracy.
(a) The problem with the reform of the House of Lords is that the Lord Chancellor simultaneously serves as the speaker of the House of Lords, as the minister of justice, and as the head of the judiciary.
(b) As for the relations between elected officials and the bureaucracy,
the United Kingdom has a long tradition of a fair and unbiased bureaucratic
organization, but dissatisfaction has recently been voiced regarding this
kind of administration of the bureaucracy.
[4] Joint Committee on House of Lords Reform (Clerk of Committees David Beamish); and the Government's House of Lords Reform Team
The delegation received the following explanation concerning the reform of the House of Lords.
(a) The first-stage reforms, which primarily involved reducing the number of hereditary peers, have essentially been completed, and discussions are now in progress regarding the longer-term, second-stage reforms. Intensive parliamentary deliberations are now proceeding in the Joint Committee on House of Lords Reform based on the "Wakeham Report" of the Royal Commission on House of Lords Reform.
(b) These discussions have included concerns that the House of Commons
may lose its status if a public election system is introduced for the House
of Lords.
[5] Council of Civil Service Unions (Secretary Charles Cochrane)
The delegation received the following explanation concerning the relationship between elected officials and the bureaucracy.
(a) In the United Kingdom, civil servants are considered to be in the service of particular ministers in their roles as cabinet members, and not in the service of individual politicians.
(b) The ministers also have "special advisors" who are political
appointees and provide political advice.
5. Outline of the survey in Thailand:
[1] Constitutional Court (Judge Suchit Bunbongkarn and one staff member)
The delegation received the following explanation concerning the activities of the Constitutional Court.
(a) Since it was established, the Court has ruled on the constitutionality of more than 200 laws.
(b) The Court has also examined the asset statements of politicians to
check for any falsehoods as part of efforts to prevent political corruption.
[2] King Prajadhipok's Institute (Secretary General Borwornsak Uwanno and two staff members)
The delegation received explanations concerning Thailand's electoral system,
including the fact that Thailand's system was established with reference
to the Japanese system combining single-member electoral districts with
proportional representation.
[3] Former House of Representatives Speaker Professor Marut Bunnag (and one staff member)
The delegation received an explanation of the history of Thailand's constitution
as it has evolved over several coups d'etat.
6. Outline of the survey in Singapore:
[1] Reports from Embassy Staff
The delegation received the following explanations from the staff of Japanese
embassies in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia concerning the circumstances
behind each nation's constitution.
Constitution of the Philippines
(a) The constitution places strict limitations on executive power in reaction to the experience under the Marcos dictatorship.
(b) As basic principles, the constitution incorporates sovereignty of the
people, pacifism and the abolition of nuclear weapons. The constitution
also prohibits, in principle, the establishment of foreign military bases
and the stationing of foreign military personnel on Philippine territory.
Constitution of Malaysia
(a) The constitution stipulates Islam as the national religion, but specifies that the constitution is the highest law of the land.
(b) The constitution stipulates a special status for the Malay community.
(c) The constitution has regulations stipulating that Malay is the national
language.
Constitution of Indonesia
(a) The constitution has been revised toward greater democratization, including placing restrictions on executive powers, four times in successive years following the collapse of the Suharto dictatorship, and these efforts were essentially completed with this year's revision.
(b) Nevertheless, establishing the domestic framework to secure the "rule
of law" remains an important issue.
[2] Attorney-General's Chambers (Principal Senior State Counsel, Civil Division, Jeffrey Chan Wah Teck and three staff members)
The delegation received an explanation of Singapore's unique "group
election system" which guarantees Parliament seats for citizens who
are not members of the Chinese majority, and of other aspects of Singapore's
constitutional system.
[3] Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minister for Law and Minister for Foreign Affairs S. Jayakumar and one staff member)
The delegation received an explanation regarding Singapore's compulsory
military service and other aspects of the nation's defense system.
[4] National University of Singapore (Associate Professor Thio Li-ann)
The delegation received an explanation of how Singapore's "group election
system" is advantageous to the ruling People's Action Party. As a
personal opinion, Professor Thio Li-ann recommended the adoption of a simple
system based on single-member electoral districts.
7. Outline of the survey in China:
[1] School of Law, Renmin University of China (Dean and Professor of Law ZENG Xianyi)
The delegation received an explanation of how the introduction of the market
economy is necessary and essential for advancing China's reform and market
opening policies, of how a socialist economy provides a framework for developing
a market economy, and of the Chinese constitution overall.
[2] Social Development Institute, Central Party School Communist Party of China (CPC) (Professor LIU Junjie and one staff member)
The delegation received the following explanation concerning the overall Chinese constitutional system.
(a) China is also addressing the protection of intellectual property rights as an important issue from its standpoint as a nation founded on science and technology.
(b) Discussions are taking place regarding how private property should
be protected under the constitution as a theoretical issue for revising
the constitution.
[3] Legislative Affairs Commission, Standing Committee, National People's Congress, People's Republic of China (Vice Chairman ZHANG Chunsheng and three staff members)
The delegation received an explanation concerning the historical development of China's present constitution, which led to the following exchange of opinions.
(a) The Chinese praised Japan's peace constitution as making major contributions to peace in Northeast Asia and throughout the globe.
(b) The Chinese perceive no problems whatsoever with Japanese participation
in United Nations peacekeeping operations based on UN resolutions.
8. Outline of the survey in the Republic of Korea:
[1] Speaker of the National Assembly PARK Kwan Yong (and three staff members)
The delegation received the following explanation concerning the ROK constitution, etc.
(a) There is an ongoing debate in ROK about revising the constitution so that the president's term of office will become four years, the same as the term of office of members of the National Assembly.
(b) Korea praises Japan's peace constitution and Japan's other international
contributions in accordance with its status as an economic superpower,
and also firmly supports Article 9 of the Japanese constitution as a neighboring
Asian country.
[2] Legislative Counseling Office of the National Assembly, Director General KIM Jong-Du and his staff)
>> The delegation received an explanation regarding the status of
member-sponsored bills in the National Assembly, and regarding the role
of the Legislative Counseling Office in the legislative process.
[3] Constitutional Court (Secretary General PARK Yong-Sang and six staff members)
The delegation received the following explanation concerning the Constitutional Court.
(a) The Constitutional Court has been issuing rulings that many laws enacted under ROK's former military governments are unconstitutional, with the overwhelming support of the people.
(b) The ROK legal system permits citizens to submit cases directly to the
Constitutional Court. Many such cases are being submitted, and the Court's
other positive activities are being highly evaluated, both within South
Korea and overseas.
[4] National Human Rights Commission (President KIM Chang-kuk and four staff)
The delegation received an explanation that while the ROK National Human
Rights Commission just became an independent body (separate from the government)
last year, in light of the violations of human rights under the former
authoritarian military governments, there are very high expectations regarding
the Commission's activities.
Impressions expressed by Mission Leader NAKAYAMA
>> Mr. Nakayama expressed the following impressions after the above summary report was presented to the Commission.
The ongoing efforts toward revising the constitution in the United Kingdom
include reforming the House of Lords and advancing devolution. In China,
the required constitutional changes have been made to advance national
reform and market-opening policies. In Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia
and South Korea, democratic constitutions have been enacted based on popular
movements. It seems that, amid the rapidly changing social conditions,
all of these nations have been engaging in national debates at appropriate
times and, based on these debates, their constitutions are all being revised.
Main points of comments by delegation members
HANASHI Nobuyuki (Liberal Democratic Party)
>> My impression is that the United Kingdom and all the other countries are working toward constitutional revisions to actively address the trends of the new era.
>> My strongest impressions from participating in the delegation are as follows.
[1] In the United Kingdom: (a) they are advancing efforts toward devolution and reform of the House of Lords beginning with those areas that are most easily addressed; (b) they are working to reduce the authority of the Lord Chancellor via constitutional conventions; and (c) civil servants are considered to be in the service of their ministers as cabinet members, and not in the service of their ministers as individual politicians.
[2] In Thailand, the constitution has been repeatedly revised following a series of coups d'etat, and at present: (a) the Constitutional Court is fulfilling its proper functions, and the Committee on Corruption Prevention and Suppression has been established; (b) the Thai electoral system was designed giving reference to the Japanese system; (c) the new constitution is designed so that it can easily be revised, but in practice further revisions would be difficult because the new constitution enjoys great popular support; and (d) the new constitution has done a great deal toward eliminating the possibility of any additional coups d'etat.
[3] In Singapore: (a) the government is emphasizing "Asian-type values," and there was a statement noting the crucial importance of citizen trust in government; (b) when I asked about the merits of stipulating children's duty to support their parents in the constitution, they explained that this is an educational issue; and (c) they stated that the economic development of China is being viewed as a threat and that all Southeast Asian countries hold high expectations of Japan.
[4] In China: (a) they view the measures taken during the Tiananmen Square incident as correct, but indicated the final judgement will be left up to history; (b) they are still striving to define "socialism" in the context of the reform and market-opening policy; (c) they noted that the constitutional stipulation of children's duty to support their parents is not functioning well due to the one-child policy; and (d) they confirmed that China perceives no problems whatsoever with Japanese participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations.
[5] In the ROK, they noted the importance of trilateral dialog among South
Korea, Japan and the United States, and of broader dialog with China and
Russia, for maintaining stability in Northeast Asia.
>> As overall conclusions: (a) in considering international relations,
nothing should be given more precedence than a nation's security and interests;
and (b) Japan should embark on constitutional debate based on a sense of
trust among the Japanese citizenry.
NAKAGAWA Masaharu (Democratic Party of Japan and Club of Independents)
>> In most of the nations that the delegation visited, the citizens are engaged in lively national debates regarding constitutional revisions as one means of addressing national goals and points of contention, and these nations are thus firmly establishing their constitutions among their citizens. Some of these nations have established constitutions that emphasize human rights in reaction to their experiences under former military governments. The positive stance toward constitutional revision in these nations gave me the impression that Japan is far behind.
>> I felt that the role of the Constitutional Court is very great in all of these nations, and that definitive court rulings regarding the constitutionality of various laws are promoting more active debates in their legislatures. Overall, it seems that these types of efforts to build up the environment for debating constitutional issues are extremely important.
>> China and South Korea both highly approve of the pacifist stance embodied in Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, but also strongly approve Japanese participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations. I felt their high expectations toward Japan's international contributions, and I think it is important for us to consider these in our future deliberations.
HARUNA Naoaki (Japanese Communist Party)
>> The historical backgrounds to the constitutions differ greatly from nation to nation, but the constitutions are all the fruits of citizens fighting to secure their rights. I felt that regardless of the number of constitutional revisions or explicit provisions, it is important to consider the relationship between national politics and citizens' lives in all deliberations on constitutional revisions.
>> I had the impression that the major contemporary constitutional principles of sovereignty of the people and the guarantee of human rights are at the heart of each nation's vision and are being advanced by each nation. I felt that democracy and the guarantee of human rights are being advanced in each nation visited by the delegation through diverse popular efforts and movements regarding various issues.
>> It is noteworthy that the nations of Asia all expressed their positive approval and support of Japan's peace constitution, beginning with Article 9, and they frankly shared their concerns about its possible collapse. I had the strong impression that Japan cannot possibly build up friendly relations with Asian nations without serious reflection on our history of aggressive warfare.
>> With the expansion of ASEAN and the signing of the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, East Asia has been making major contributions to the establishment of world peace. I had the strong impression that the nations of East Asia are vigorously pursuing trends toward non-alignment, no nuclear weapons, and the peaceful resolution of conflicts. Looking at the constitutional conditions in each nation, I strongly feel that the Research Commission on the Constitution should move on with our deliberations giving due consideration to diverse citizen efforts and movements on democracy and the guarantee of human rights, and diplomacy and peace for Japan.
Main points of comments by a Commission member who did not participate in the Delegation
KANEKO Tetsuo (Social Democratic Party)
>> I think the most outstanding points of this delegation were the comments received in China and South Korea in reference to and with approval of the present Japanese Constitution, especially of Article 9. The background to these comments lies in Asian nations' interest in Japan's activities over the 57 years since the end of the Second World War as well as Japan's history of aggression before that and concern about Japan's future. The Commission should now move ahead with its deliberations giving due consideration to this interest and concern.
>> According to the delegation's report, the National Human Rights Commission in South Korea has been established as an independent body, separate from the government under the concept that human rights are designed to protect citizens from the authority of the state and to provide relief. From this viewpoint also, I question whether the proposed bill for the protection of human rights that is now being debated in Japan would sufficiently protect human rights because, among other reasons, it would place the Human Rights Committee under the authority of the Minister of Justice. I think we need to consider the survey results regarding this point in our future Diet deliberations on the human rights protection bill.