Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

Mihariban
Mihariban asked the public, through its website: http://
www3.ocn.ne.jp/ mihari/, for information on Diet
members who might be considered as unfit under the
following eight criteria:
1) involvement in crimes, injustice and corruption;
2) violations of the Public Election Law;
3) violations of the Political Funds Control Law;
4) speaking against citizens or human rights;
5) breaking their election pledges;
6) neglect of Diet activities;
7) being physically unable to perform their duties;
and
8) abuse of their authority or lack of common sense.
Source: Moriguchi, Kenzo, Watchdog plans Web site blacklist to foil
political misfits’ re-elections, Japan Times: April 30, 2000.
Even though the result of the campaign was not as
successful as Korea’s, it received a good response from
academics such as Prof. Yoshitaka Nishizawa, a professor
of political science at Doshisha University in Kyoto:
“Whether they are good or bad, such moves
may prompt policy-makers to disclose more
information.... Politicians may realize that it would
be better to disclose information before being
asked by the public, rather than being evaluated by
speculation or rumors.”
The underlying concept behind this mechanism
is absolutely correct but may be fruitless if a high
proportion of unfit politicians on the blacklist remain
sitting. Such unfit politicians will give no attention to
the public voice anymore. Moreover, such activity is
quite risky because it can be treated as defamation or
abuse of election laws.
Shareholder Suits
A suit brought by a shareholder on behalf of a
corporation, or a derivative suit, is provided for in
Article 267, of the Commercial Code of Japan, first
adopted in 1950, which states that any shareholder of
a company who has continued to hold shares for six
months or more is entitled to file a derivative action
against directors who damage the company due to their
unlawful conduct.
The 1993 Amendment
The most important issue in the 1993 amendment was
the high court fee. The filing fee for derivative actions
SOCIAL JUSTICE, HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY
399
was changed to be fixed at 8,200 yen regardless of the
amount of claimed damages. The 1993 amendment
also expanded reimbursement to include certain legal
costs such as traffic costs to attend attorney conferences
and costs for collecting evidence as reasonable attorney
fees as provided in Article 268-2.
This amendment fulfilled its objective. After the
amendment was passed, the number of shareholder
derivative suits in Japan jumped from one suit every
two years in the first forty years to 494 suits between
1991-2000. (Milhaupt: 2003, 24)
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows