Gyōsei fufuku shinsa hō no chikujō kaisetsu (Commentary on the Administrative Appeal Act [2nd Edition])

Three acts relating to the Administrative Appeal Act were passed at the 2014 ordinary session of the Japanese Diet. The Administrative Appeal Act was completely revised, an Arrangement Act on the Enforcement of Laws Relating to the Administrative Appeal Act covering a total of 361 laws was enacted, and the Administrative Procedures Act was also partially revised. The Administrative Appeal Act was established in 1962 and stood substantially unrevised for a good 52 years up to 2014, apart from a relaxation of the conditions for stay of execution and a switch to making the provision of ex officio instructions in documentary form obligatory (both changes occurring in line with a partial amendment of the Administrative Case Litigation Act in 2004). These changes have been of great significance. The impartiality of trial procedures has been enhanced by the introduction of the hearing officer system and an advisory system to bodies such as the Administrative Complaint Review Board. Consideration of expediting of trial procedures is evident in the system for standardizing trial periods and the planned trial system. The unification of the rules for lodging various types of appeals has made such procedures easier to understand. In addition, the effectiveness of relief has been enhanced by the extension of the subjective period of request for review. While this publication is a point-by-point commentary on the completely revised Administrative Appeal Act, the author has also published a basic commentary on the Act (Q&A atarashii gyōsei fufuku shinsa hō no kaisetsu (Q&A Commentary on the New Administrative Appeal Act), Shin Nihon Hōki, 2014). Therefore, the author has made great efforts to make this present publication a more detailed explication of the Act. The preface includes thorough coverage of the development of the administrative appeals system in Japan up to the complete revision of the Administrative Appeal Act, going right back to the regulations on petitioning adopted in 1882. There is also an outline of the Arrangement Act, basic knowledge of which is required for readers to grasp the significance of the complete revision of the Administrative Appeal Act. (For a more detailed treatment of the Arrangement Act, see Katsuya Uga, Kaisei gyōsei fufuku shinsa hō kanren sanpō, dai 2-han (Commentary on Three Laws Related to the Revised Administrative Appeal Act, 2^nd edition), Kōbundō, 2015.)
 
This 2^nd edition has been expanded to cover the Administrative Appeal Act Enforcement Ordinance, the Administrative Appeal Act Enforcement Regulations, the Administrative Complaint Review Board Secretariat Organization Regulations, and the Administrative Complaint Review Board Management Regulations. This publication not only explains the relevant legal texts but also covers the major judicial precedents. Readers are encouraged to refer to the index of judicial precedents appended at the end of the text along with the subject index. Those readers wishing to research this area more deeply will find citations in the main body of the text. The end of the publication also includes the text of the Administrative Appeal Act and the text of the Act’s Enforcement Ordinance. Readers are encouraged to refer to these to deepen their understanding of the contents of this book.
 

(Written by UGA Katsuya, Professor, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics / 2018)