Photo/Illutration Two of the plaintiffs appear at a news conference on Feb. 22 after the Osaka High Court ordered the central government to pay compensation. (Takaharu Yagi)

Government practices, such as forced sterilizations, conducted under the former Eugenic Protection Law were so heinous that a court decided that the 20-year statute of limitations should not apply.

Presiding Judge Teruyoshi Ota of the Osaka High Court on Feb. 22 acknowledged the statute of limitations in seeking compensation, but he also examined the human rights violations committed against three of the people who have sued the government.

Ota ruled that applying the statute of limitations should be limited when “following that provision will lead to a significant violation of the concepts of justice and fairness.”

In a first, the high court ordered the government to pay a total of 27.5 million yen ($239,000) to the three plaintiffs over their forced sterilizations.

A total of nine lawsuits over forced sterilizations have been submitted so far in district courts around the nation. In six of the rulings, the plaintiffs lost because the statute of limitations had elapsed.

Ota’s decision has changed the picture.

The plaintiffs at the high court, including a couple with hearing impairments, expressed their joy about the ruling.

Using sign language at a news conference on Feb. 22, the wife in her 70s and husband in his 80s said, “It was a long battle, but we are truly happy.”

The woman, however, also signed, “My pain has still not healed and my sadness continues.”

The couple married in 1970, and the woman was sterilized without her consent four years later when she gave birth through a Caesarean section. The baby died soon thereafter.

The husband called on the government to not appeal the ruling on grounds they were both advanced in age and might not be able to live until the next ruling.

Miyohiko Matsuhisa, a professor of civil law at Hokkai-Gakuen University in Sapporo, said the Osaka High Court ruling could remove a big hurdle for those seeking compensation.

“The ruling can be highly evaluated because it is a major step forward from the district court rulings, which until now have strictly interpreted the statute of limitations,” Matsuhisa said.

The high court ruling said provisions of the old eugenic law uniformly judged those with certain disabilities or illnesses as being “unworthy” of bearing children and were sterilized. That action violated Articles 13 and 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to the pursuit of happiness and equality before the law.

The ruling also pointed out that the old eugenic law contributed to prolonging discrimination and prejudice against those with the disabilities covered by the law.

That made it difficult for those who had been sterilized to gain access to the information necessary to decide to file lawsuits to seek compensation, the ruling said.

(This article was written by Yuto Yoneda and Arata Namima.)

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