Monday, March 25, 2013

Hiroshima Court Strikes Down December 2012 Elections

This just in...The Hiroshima High Court has ruled the House of Representatives elections of December 16, 2012 to be not just unconstitutional but invalid:

1票の格差:昨年衆院選は「無効」 初司法判断 広島高裁

毎日新聞 2013年03月25日 16時17分(最終更新 03月25日 16時17分)

「1票の格差」が最大で2・43倍だった昨年12月の衆院選を巡り、弁護士グループが選挙の無効を求めた訴訟で、広島高裁は25日、違憲としたうえで、選挙を無効とする判決を言い渡した。1票の格差を理由に、選挙のやり直しを求める司法判断は初めて。被告の広島県選管は上告するとみられる
(Link - J)

If the above Mainichi account holds up we are looking at the first ever voiding of an election.

Holy coraggio, Professore Ortolani!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Asahi reporting first time in 50 years of trying by lawyers. http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0325/OSK201303250048.html

Anonymous said...

Well, it's better than the little bit pregnant results of the other courts, however what is this business about due date upon which the carriage turns to a mice drawn pumpkin? (混乱を避けるため、無効の効果は今年11月26日を経過して発生するとした。)
YY

Anonymous said...

Interesting to see who is the President of the Court in the 3-judges panel who handed down the judgment: a woman, senior judge (possibly at the end of her career? no fear of retaliation?) who spent her past assignments quite far from the ganglia of power. Her profile is here: Judge Junko Ikadazu (? 筏津順子) http://www.e-hoki.com/judge/134.html?hb=1
Andrea

MTC said...

dirittogiapponese -

My current operating retroactive hypothesis is that if one of the judges was ever going to break ranks and stop protecting the other old boys, it was going to be the judge who was never was going to be one of the old boys.

Anonymous said...

MTC: agreed! And similar profile for Presiding Judge Katano of today's decision of Okayama branch: http://www.e-hoki.com/judge/743.html?hb=1
(a classmate of judge Ikadatsu! although they apparently never served together)
Andrea