Exercising the Right to Collective Self-Defense? An Analysis of “Japan’s Peace and Security Legislation”

Abstract

Successive Japanese governments have consistently interpreted that Japan has the right of collective self-defense but that it cannot be exercised because of the so-called “peace clause” contained in Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. Despite this official interpretation, the Second Abe Cabinet made a decision to partially exercise the right of collective self-defense on 1 July 2014. Based on that cabinet decision, the Third Abe Cabinet reached another decision on legislation for peace and security on 14 May 2015, which was eventually enacted on 19 September 2015. This paper examines the legislative process in connection with the Peace and Security Legislation as deliberated in the Special Committee on the Peace and Security Legislation during the 189^th ordinary session in the Japanese National Diet. In order to comprehend the constitutionality of the legislation, this paper thoroughly anatomizes the proceedings of the Committee on the Peace and Security Legislation.

The outcome of the research indicates that although the legislation allows Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense for the defense of Japan, it does not allow Japan to exercise the full-size right to collective self-defense purely for the defense of other countries. Hence, it should be noted that it is impossible for Japan to exercise the normal right to collective self-defense in a typical case, such as the Vietnam War or the Afghanistan War. This paper clarifies that if the Japanese government wishes to exercise the normal and full-set right to collective self-defense, a revision of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution becomes necessary.