Right to Know v. the Secrecy Law in Japan: Striking the Right Balance

TY - JOUR

T1 - Right to Know v. the Secrecy Law in Japan

T2 - Striking the Right Balance

AU - Corrales Compagnucci, Marcelo

PY - 2014/12/10

Y1 - 2014/12/10

N2 - The 'right to know' information is a well established human right principle protected under the umbrella of Public International Law. In Japan, this right stems from the Japanese constitution and its provisions were enshrined in the Administrative Information Disclosure Law (AIDL) of 2001. However, in December 2013, the Japanese National Diet passed a Secrecy Bill which caused uproar among legal experts, the media and other civic and human rights organizations, mainly due to its failure to come to term with the concept of secret information, which may undermine and hamper journalistic activities and freedom of the press. The 'special gravitas' question of striking the right balance between the legitimacy of state secrets and the public's right to know persists in Japan still. This article attempts to answer some of these lingering questions and strives to find a solution.

AB - The 'right to know' information is a well established human right principle protected under the umbrella of Public International Law. In Japan, this right stems from the Japanese constitution and its provisions were enshrined in the Administrative Information Disclosure Law (AIDL) of 2001. However, in December 2013, the Japanese National Diet passed a Secrecy Bill which caused uproar among legal experts, the media and other civic and human rights organizations, mainly due to its failure to come to term with the concept of secret information, which may undermine and hamper journalistic activities and freedom of the press. The 'special gravitas' question of striking the right balance between the legitimacy of state secrets and the public's right to know persists in Japan still. This article attempts to answer some of these lingering questions and strives to find a solution.

KW - Faculty of Law

KW - information disclosure law in Japan, right to know, secrecy law, freedom of press, freedom of speech, whistle-blowing, Tshwane Principles

UR - https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2398851

M3 - Journal article

VL - 38

SP - 189

EP - 200

JO - Journal of Japanese Law

JF - Journal of Japanese Law

IS - 19

ER -