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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
Japan: Strategies for Improving
Citizens’ Access to Information and the
Role of Information Commissioners
Osaka University
Noriko Okubo

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
1 General regulations for access to information
(1)National level
① Law Concerning Access to Information Held by the
Administrative Organs (LAI) (1999)
② Law Concerning Access to Information Held by
Incorporated Administrative Agencies (2001)
(2) Local level
Ordinances concerning access to information held
by local governments
2 Special provisions in the environmental legislation
(ex.: PRTR Act)
Legal Schemes

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
1 Applicable Organs
All national administrative organs
2 Scope of the administrative documents
Documents, pictures and electromagnetic
records held by the administrative organ
concerned for organizational use by its
employees
Including:
(1) Documents before final decisions
(2) Documents obtained/prepared before the
enforcement of LAI
Scope of LAI

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
1 Any person has the right to request disclosure
2 Principle
Obligation to disclose Documents
3 6 categories of exceptions
Obligation: Partial Disclosure
4 Exception of exception
Discretionary Disclosure of Non-Disclosure
Information for Public Interest Grounds
However, Limited number of examples in practice
(only 8 cases in 2011)
Right to Request Disclosure

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
Information disclosure may be refused if it might adversely
affect:
1 personal information
2 confidential corporate information
However, information which is relevant for the protection
of a person's life, health, livelihood or property shall be
disclosed.
3 national security/international relations
4 maintenance of public safety
5 deliberation process of administrative decision
6 confidentiality of the proceedings of public authorities
6 categories

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
1 Deadline for Disclosure Decisions
30 days from the request (extendable for
more 30 days)
2 Fees
(1) Disclosure request: cir. US$ 2 - 3
(2) Documents:
Inspection : cir. US$ 1 up to 100 pages
Copy: cir. US$ 0.1 /1 page
Procedure for Disclosure

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
Any dissatisfied requesters has access to a review
procedure.
1 Appeal to the Administrative Organ
(1) Reference to the Information Disclosure
Review Board
(2) Review Board: Submitting a report
(report: open to the public)
2 Litigation
Only 15-30 cases/year
Access to Justice

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
1 Organization
Under the Cabinet Office
Commissioners + Secretariat (incl. Examination Officers)
5 Panels (3 Commissioners/panel)
2 Commissioners
・Total: 15 members
・5 full-time Commissioner, 10 part-time Commissioner
・Appointed by the Prime Minister subject to the Diet
approval
・Term: 3 years
3 Competence
・Submission of reports
・Ex officio examination
・Solicit to show the requested documents
(in camera examination)
Information Disclosure and Personal
Information Protection Review Board

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
1 Requests
Total: 96,677
Ministry of Infrastructure: 39,010
Ministry of Environment: 502
2 Decisions: 83,712
(1) Disclosure: 42,983 (51.4%)
(2) Partial disclosure: 38,688 (46.2%)
(3) Nondisclosure: 2,041 (2.4%)
Nondisclosure information: 40,325
Nonexistence: 2,278
Glomar denial: 339
Status of Enforcement (2011)

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
Number of Request
48,670
59,887
73,318
87,123
78,639
49,930
61,089
76,870
72,390
86,034
96,677
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Number of request

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
Decisions
56.1
69.1 70.9 74.4 71.8
45.6 42.6
35 38.3 41.4
51.4
32.5
26.6 25.3 22.2 23.3
43.2 52.9
61.3 58.5 56.1 46.2
11.4
4.3 3.8 3.4 4.9
11.2
4.5 3.7 3.2 2.5 2.4
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Decisions
All disclosure Partical disclosure Non-disclosure

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
1 Number of administrative appeals: 1,077
cf. Litigation: 12
2 Duration of the process
Within 6 months: 21.6%
6-9 months: 18.5%
9-12 months: 22.4%
more than 1 year: 37.5%
3 Board’s Recommendations
Admit: 3.4%
Partially admit: 20.6%
Dismiss: 76%
Administrative Appeals (2011)

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
Number of Administrative Appeals
1,359
914
1,158
1,367
744
800
1,018
851
739
952
1,077
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Number of administrative appeals

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
1 Requested documents: Old inspection documents
2 Original decision: Nondisclosure
Main reasons: personal information of workers
confidential corporate data
knowhow data to investigate by inspector
3 Review by the Board: Ex officio examination
(1) Requests to the authority for detailed research about
existence/nonexistence of the factories
(2) Examinationby the official of the Board
(3) Inquiry to the concerned corporations
4 Recommendations in 2013
(1) Documents concerning the closed workplaces shall be
disclosed (except personal data) (Kishiwada Case).
(2) Old Documents concerning production process etc.: 19
documents of 25 requested documents shall be partially disclosed
(Amagasaki Case).
Recent Cases : Asbestos Kishiwada Case
and Amagasaki Case

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
1 Request: documents concerning work at Fukushima
nuclear power plants with exposure to radiation
2 Original decision: Partial disclosure
Main reason: confidential corporate data
3 Recommendations on 14 March 2013:
expanding the extent of partial disclosure
(1) Data concerning high-dose radiation areas in the
Fukushima Plants
(2) Some parts of roadmap for controlling the accident
and cold shutdown of nuclear reactors
Recent Cases: Fukushima Accident

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
1 Confidential cooperate information
(1) Information on emissions which is relevant for
protection of：
① a person’s life, health, livelihood, or property (LAI),
② the environment (Aarhus)
Aarhus > LAI
(2) Information which has been voluntarily provided in
response to a request by the Administrative Organ
on the condition of non-disclosure: Aarhus = LAI
2 Non-Existence
(1) No preparation of documents
(2) Elapse of the statutory period for retaining the
records
Hottest Issues

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グリーンアクセスプロジェクト Green Access Project
1 Accountability and Transparency have been dramatically
improved after the LAI enforcement.
2 It is time for next step. However, the bill for revision of
LAI in 2011 was blocked in the Diet.
3 Some options for the next steps
(1) Expanding applicable organizations
(2) Strengthening discretionary disclosure of non-
disclosure information
(3) Strengthening control of management of public
documents
(4) Strengthening legal obligation to submit relevant
environmental information to the administrative agency
(5) Strengthening system of collection and dissemination
of environmental information based on the relevant
environmental legislation
Next Challenges