6th Court Finds July Upper House Poll in Unconstitutional State

Kanazawa, Ishikawa Pref., Nov. 10 (Jiji Press)--The Kanazawa branch of Nagoya High Court on Thursday became the sixth court in Japan to rule that the House of Councillors election in July was held in a state of unconstitutionality in terms of vote-value disparities.

The ruling was the 13th decision on a total of 16 lawsuits that have been filed with high courts and high court branches across the country by two groups of lawyers who claim that the election with a maximum vote-value gap of 3.03 times was unconstitutional.

The court in the central Japan city of Kanazawa also rejected the plaintiffs' demand to nullify the results of the election for the upper chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament.

With Thursday's ruling, one court has found the poll unconstitutional, six have said that the election was held in a state of unconstitutionality and six found the election constitutional.

Rulings on the remaining lawsuits are expected to be handed down by Tuesday, after which the Supreme Court is seen issuing a unified decision.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]