Japans „Ungleiche Verträge“

Von der Diskriminierung durch das Völkerrecht zur Modernisierung des Rechts

Abstract

The lecture discusses the extent to which the conclusion of the “Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation between Prussia and Japan” in 1861 represents a suitable starting point for “160 years of German-Japanese friendship”. Like other of the so-called Unequal Treaties imposed by Western powers on East Asian states in the second half of the 19th century, the Prussian-Japanese Treaty clearly disadvantaged Japan and limited her sovereignty. Among other things, the Treaty curtailed Japan’s customs autonomy and exempted Prussian citizens resident in Japan from local law. On the other hand, the Unequal Treaties acted as a driving force for comprehensive reforms based on the Western model, not least in the field of law. Because in order to catch up economically, technically and militarily with the Western powers, to be recognized by them as equal and “civilized” and to renegotiate the Unequal Treaties, the Meiji government was forced to carry out extensive reforms including in the field of law. After a brief introduction (I.), the first part of the lecture looks at the historical and legal background of the Prussian-Japanese Treaty (II.). The general situation in East Asia in the age of imperialism is first examined, followed by the Eulenburg Mission, the content of the Prussian-Japanese Treaty and Japan’s decades-long struggle to revise the Unequal Treaties. The second part shows how these treaties acted as an important factor for reforms in general and served as trigger for laying the foundation of a modern legal system based on continental European models in particular (III.). The lecture discusses the objectives of the reforms in more detail. Furthermore, it takes a closer look at the reform of criminal law and procedure and the modernization of the police as two illustrative examples. The lecture comes to the conclusion that the Unequal Treaties, despite or precisely because of their discriminatory character, have greatly contributed to Japan’s success in creating a modern legal system, including comprehensive codifications, independent courts and professionally trained lawyers, within little more than three decades (IV.). Seen in this way, the Prussian-Japanese Treaty actually contributes to the fact that Japanese and German lawyers can today meet as friends and on an equal footing.