After Tuesday’s ruling, a supporter of the plaintiffs — two women who were seeking compensation of 71.5 million yen (USD 650,000) in total — rushed out of the courtroom with a banner that read: “Unfair verdict.
Tokyo: Men and women who were forcibly sterilised under a now-defunct eugenics law had their bid for compensation rejected by a Japanese court, which said the statute of limitations had passed.
The court ruled that the law, which remained in force until 1996, “was unconstitutional”, local media said.
But it “rejected all claims made by the plaintiffs,” a spokeswoman for the Sendai District Court in northern Japan told AFP.
Local media said the ruling, which was not immediately available, found the government was not obliged to pay compensation as the 20-year statute of limitations had now passed.
Some 16,500 people were sterilised without their consent under the law, which targeted those with disabilities. In April, the government passed legislation offering the victims 3.2 million yen (USD 29,000) each, an amount derided by campaigners as “failing to meet the seriousness” of the issue.
The legislation, and an apology from the prime minister, only emerged after plaintiffs began to file lawsuits over their experiences.
“We have arrived at this decision of ‘unconstitutional’, but it is meaningless if it fails to help the suffering of the victims,” Koji Niisato, the chief lawyer for the plaintiffs, told reporters.
