Judicial Review in Japan: When Courts Face a Dominant Party

Date: Thursday, March 7, 2024

Time: 10:30-11:30 a.m. (Eastern)

Furman Hall 318

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About this event

When compared with other constitutional courts, Japan’s Supreme Court has often been dismissed as a timid institution. It has even been called “the most conservative constitutional court in the world.” Masahiko Kinoshita, a professor of law at Kobe University and leading constitutional law scholar, argues that this sells the court short. In a new paper, he says that in cases involving freedom of expression, voting rights, and representation, the court has protected the “democratic minimum core” values while strategically avoiding confrontation with the political branches. 

About the speaker

Masahiko Kinoshita is a professor at Kobe University Graduate School of Law and editor of a popular series of constitutional law casebooks in Japan. He is currently a visiting scholar at the U.S.-Asia Law Institute at NYU School of Law, and was previously a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School. He belongs to several committees and working groups that advise central government ministries and local governments on constitutional law matters. He holds a JD from the University of Tokyo, where he also taught as assistant professor and lecturer.

About the moderator and discussant

Roderick Hills is the William T. Comfort, III Professor of Law and a faculty advisor to NYU’s U.S.-Asia Law Institute. He teaches and writes in public law areas with a focus on the law governing division of powers between central and subcentral governments. These areas include constitutional law, local government law, land use regulation, jurisdiction, and education law. His publications have appeared, among other places, in the Harvard Law Review, Pennsylvania Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Stanford Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, and the Supreme Court Law Review. Hills holds bachelor’s and law degrees from Yale University.  

Other discussants:

Samuel Issacharoff, Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law