Japanese Court Rules ID System Unconstitutional

30/05/2005

Kanazawa District Court Justice Kenichi Ido ruled on 30 May that the Juki Net system that contains information on all 126 million citizens is unconstitutional becuase it violates Article 13 of the Japanese Constitution on the protection of privacy. The court ordered that the Ishikawa government must remove the information on the 28 citizens who filed suit.

In the ruling, the court recognized that not allowing the plaintiffs to 'opt out' from the Jukinet system is unconstitutional. The Court found that the "right to privacy", under Article 13, recognized the right of the data subject ot control his own personal information.

The Court decided that the prefecture must halt the transfer of the plaintiff's Basic Resident Register Information (name, birthdate, gender, address, and ID number) from the prefecture to the central government.

The Court also recognized that giving residents a numeric 'Juki Code' gives the Government the ability to search and gather further personal information within their databases. It was felt that such powers could create a chilling effect among Japan's residents.


As the lawsuit was filed in the Ishikawa prefecture, the decision only applies to this one (out of 47) prefectures.

There are at least two other oustanding lawsuits relating to Jukinet.

Related:
ID Cards Home Page
PHR2004 - Japan
Japan’s National ID Card Falls Flat
Privacy International Calls for Dismantling of Japan ID Numbering System
Japanese Constitution