Another Japanese court rules same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional

It was the fifth high court ruling on six damages lawsuits initiated at five district courts in Japan.

It followed similar judgments made by Sapporo, Tokyo, Fukuoka and Nagoya high courts.

In 2022, the Osaka District Court ruled that the provisions of the Civil Code and the family register law in question were not considered unconstitutional.

On Tuesday, Presiding Judge Kumiko Honda at Osaka High Court said that the provisions "undermine the dignity of individuals seriously and are unreasonable."

Meanwhile, the court rejected the petition for state compensation in the suit, which is one of the six suits filed by three same-sex couples in the central prefecture of Aichi and the western prefectures of Kyoto and Kagawa to win 1 million yen in damages from the government for each of the plaintiffs.

The judge stated that the provisions violate Paragraph 1 of Article 14 of the Constitution, which stipulates equality under the law, and Paragraph 2 of Article 24 of the top charter, which prescribes the enactment of laws for marriage based on individual dignity.

The government argued that Article 24 clearly stipulates that the marriage system covers only heterosexual couples and that it is constitutionally permissible that same-sex couples are not allowed to marry.

Sapporo, Tokyo, Fukuoka and Nagoya high courts have found that the provisions violate Paragraph 1 of Article 14 and Paragraph 2 of Article 24.

In addition, the Sapporo court ruled that the provisions violate freedom of marriage stated in Paragraph 1 of Article 24, while the Fukuoka court ruled that they violate the right of citizens to pursue happiness as stipulated in Article 13.

On Article 24, the Osaka District Court said in its ruling in June 2022 that the provisions "may become unconstitutional due to future changes in social conditions, but cannot be recognized as unconstitutional at this stage."

Referring to Article 14, the court stated that gaps in benefits that same-sex couples and different-sex couples can legally receive can be reduced mainly through the development of a system similar to marriage.  

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

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