The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident; Effectiveness of “Personal Rights” in the Domestic Courts and its Implication to International Law

ISHIBASHI Kanami

The aim of this article is to explore the functions of so-called “personal rights” invoked to seek judicial remedies or to have injunctions order by courts to halt operation of nuclear power plants, in domestic and international dimension. There are notable decisions (one is judgement and the others are orders) by the courts. One is related to the compensation to the victims who are now living in the Gunma Prefecture and suited the government in that it failed to take necessary regulation on the operation of the Fukushima power plant and therefore infringed their “personal rights,” in particular, “right to a peaceful life.” The others are the orders related to the injunctions of Takahama nuclear power plants based upon “personal right.” While the Takahama nuclear power plants had been successfully halted for a while even after passing the new regulation standard, the Osaka high court turned over such orders, holding that there is no room for “personal rights” since the safety of the Takahama nuclear power plants is ensured. Thus, personal rights approach to get injunction order is still limited in that it can be invoked only when lack of safety is identified. However, these domestic practices, the Author believes, could serve as good precedents to international law field.