Japan Consumer Agency Panel Seeks Unification Church Probe

Tokyo, Oct. 17 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese Consumer Affairs Agency panel released a report Monday calling for a probe into the controversial religious group known as the Unification Church.

The panel on malicious sales practices, such as "spiritual sales" by religious groups, proposed the exercise of the government's questioning right under the religious corporation law, which could lead to a court order to disband the religious group.

The report also called for expanding the right of rescission by revising the consumer contract law and for conducting consumer education on spiritual sales, in which religious groups make consumers buy goods at very high prices by fanning their anxiety.

While noting that the government "needs to carefully judge from the perspective of religious freedom" whether it should seek a disbandment order, the report noted multiple court judgments that ordered the Unification Church to pay damages for organized tort.

"The questioning right needs to be exercised with the possibility of the competent authority seeking a dissolution order," the report said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]