Japan’s new Information Disclosure Law marks a major milestone in the JCLU campaign to promote and protect the “Right to Know.” The “Law concerning the Disclosure of Information in the Possession of Administrative Agencies” for the first time provides a legally enforceable right to request information in the possession of Japan‘s national government. The law came into effect on April 2, 2001.
Demand for such a law and promotion of a public “Right to Know” has been one of the primary themes of JCLU’s activities for more than two decades. In 1979, JCLU published “Guideline for an Information Disclosure Law” which served as a model for all statutory proposals since. In 1980, JCLU joined with other citizens groups in founding “Citizens Movement for a Freedom of Information Law,” which became the core to the national lobbying effort on behalf of a disclosure law. The two decades since have witnessed a ceaseless barrage of seminars, speeches, pamphlets and books produced by JCLU and its members, all demanding a right of access to government-held documents.
In 1981, the JCLU published “Model Information Disclosure Ordinance,” a model for local government action. This provided a platform for JCLU member efforts in advising local government officials on the key elements of disclosure policy and in drafting disclosure rules. The timing was critical. The first local government ordinance was adopted in 1982. By the late 1980’s disclosure ordinances had been adopted by nearly all of Japan’s prefectures and large cities.
JCLU members have advised local governments on the structure and operation of information disclosure systems and some have participated on disclosure review panels. In key cases where disclosure requests under these local ordinances have been denied, JCLU has also supported litigation seeking to overturn these decisions. Judgments in these cases will now serve as precedents in the interpretation of the national law.
Articles in the preceding edition of Universal Principle (No. 8) describe some JCLU activities during the critical period of 1995-97, including publication of the JCLU Model Outline of Information Disclosure Law in December 1995. This document would serve as a critical reference to officials drafting the language of the government bill and later in debate among legislators and in the final tense negotiations leading to Diet passage of the law on May 7, 1999.
Even after passage of the law, much remained to be done. The law would not come into effect for nearly two years after Diet action. One critical remaining task was the creation of a ministerial order providing rules of implementation. In December 1999, JCLU submitted comments to the Management and Coordination Agency regarding the proposed ministerial order. The JCLU opinion addressed the issue of costs, seeking to make the system readily accessible by demanding the minimum possible fees to process requests and provide copies. The JCLU statement also addressed the issues of archiving and disposal of documents and transfer of documents to the National Document Depository. (The ministerial order was subsequently published on February 16, 2000. It set the processing fee at 300 yen per request, the lowest of the three options put forth by the Agency when it solicited comment on the proposed order.)
One especially important issue left open by the statute is application of the disclosure rules to Japan’s many “special corporations” (tokushu hojin), separate legal entities that perform public services or otherwise have some close relationship to the government.
In the final stages of negotiation in the Diet, all parties agreed to add a supplemental regulation requiring passage of another information disclosure law within two years to extend coverage to the special corporations. To provide guidance in this effort, a specialist committee was appointed to study the issue and make recommendations. This committee conducted extensive proceedings, including hearings with 25 separate special corporations preparatory to delivering a final report in July 2000.
JCLU submitted an opinion letter to the Special Corporations committee in December 1999, demanding that coverage be broad, including all entities that conduct public service activities and where there is a strong financial or personnel connection with the government. (The former would include such entities as the Japan Roads Public Corporation (Nihon Doro Kodan) and the Citizens Livelihood Center (Kokumin Seikatsu Center).) The JCLU position also recommended that NHK, the national public television network, should be exempt from disclosure obligations in order to protect its freedom to conduct news gathering and publishing activities.