Sovereignty and National Civil Procedure: An Analysis of State Practice in Japan

• Author: Keisuke Takeshita
• Pages: 361-362

Sovereignty & National Civil Procedure 361

IX JEAIL 2 (2016)

Keisuke Takeshita

∗

Advanced telecommunication technologies enable us to employ new methods for

judicial acts in the national civil procedure, such as facilitating evidence through

a video-link system. However, before implementing these methods in the national

proceedings for cases with foreign elements, it is necessary to elucidate the relationship

between sovereignty and judicial acts of courts, including the validation of these

new methods. This is because judicial acts by courts are considered to fall within the

purview of the exercise of sovereignty from a Japanese perspective. From the analysis

on Japanese state practices to date, it is recognized that Japan has strictly abided by the

principle of territoriality under public international law. Nevertheless, reconsidering

the meaning of sovereignty, Japan can adopt a more liberal and tolerant policy. In

particular, Japan can become more tolerant of other countries’ judicial acts, which may

be conducive to the better delivery of justice in transnational civil and commercial

dispute settlements.

Keywords

Sovereignty, Civil Procedure, State Practice, Japan, Service of Process

∗ Associate Professor of Law at Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan. LL.B. (Tokyo). ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-

0002-5936-551X. The author may be contacted at: kei.takeshita@r.hit-u.ac.jp / Address: Hitotsubashi University School

of Law, 2-1, Naka, Kunitachi, Tokyo 186-8601 Japan.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14330/jeail.2016.9.2.03

Sovereignty and

National Civil Procedure:

An Analysis of State

Practice in Japan