Japan

Japanese environmental laws

Collection of online, environmental laws and regulations made freely available on the Japanese Ministry of the Environment website. The legislation is grouped under subject headings which include global environment, waste and recycling, environmental policy and air and transportation. The collection includes an outline of the Basic Environment Law. The majority of the laws are presented in HTML with a small number in PDF format. The site can be viewed in English or Japanese.

Supreme Court of Japan

Official website of the Supreme Court of Japan. The site includes an overview of the judicial system in Japan and a guide to judicial proceedings. A database of selected Supreme Court judgments is available, in English, from 1950 onwards. The site can be viewed in English and Japanese.

Cabinet Legislation Bureau

Website of the Japanese Cabinet Legislation Bureau, the government department that assists the Cabinet on legislative matters. The site provides information on the work of the Bureau including its role in providing legal advice and opinions to the Prime Minister and Cabinet and examining legislative bills, draft Cabinet orders and draft treaties. The site also gives an outline of the legislative process in Japan. The site can be viewed in English and Japanese.

Tokyo Bar Association

Website of the Tokyo Bar Association (also known as 'Toben') the largest local bar association in Japan. The site gives information about the work of the association and its committees. There is background information on how to qualify as a Bengoshi (Japanese barrister) and how foreign lawyers can practice in Japan. The site includes a glossary of terms relating to the Japanese legal profession and can be viewed in English and Japanese.

Constitution of Japan

The Constitution of Japan in English, provided by the International Constitutional Law (ICL) project at the University of Bern in Switzerland. The Constitution was adopted in 1946 and covers the Emperor, a renunciation of war, the rights and duties of the people, the Diet, the Cabinet, the judiciary, finance and local government. There are links to the Japan Supreme Court and the library of the National Diet. The site also has background notes and historical information relating to the Constitution.

Institute of Intellectual Property

Website of the Institute of Intellectual Property (IIP) a research and development organisation which was established in 1989 and has offices in Japan and the United States. The site provides summaries of the IIP's research work which is focused on Japanese IP issues and includes topics such as the international harmonisation of trademark systems, influences of the patent system on the economy and patent protection in the fields of medicine and biotechnology. Selected examples of the IIP's research work are made freely available in full-text in PDF format.

Institute of Business Law and Comparative Law and Politics

Website of the Institute of Business Law and Comparative Law and Politics (IBC), University of Tokyo. The IBC was formed in 2006 through the integration of the Center for Foreign Law Materials (established in 1963), the International Center for Comparative Law and Politics (ICCLP, established in 1993) and the Business Law Center (established in 2001). The site has information about the activities of the Institute. It provides access to a few full-text publications, such as the ICCLP Review (1998-2002), and gives bibliographic details of others.

Asian-Pacific Law and Policy Journal

An online journal developed by the William S. Richardson Law School at the University of Hawaii at Monoa. The journal is published twice a year and is available from the inaugural edition, February 2000, onwards. It focuses on a range of jurisdictions, including China, Japan, Korea, the United States and the Pacific and Southeast Asian regions generally.

Japan Commercial Arbitration Association

Website of the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA), an independent organisation originally established in 1950 by the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The site gives an overview of the work of the JCAA, defining its main purpose as the resolution of international and domestic commercial disputes. The site provides access to Japanese full text arbitration laws in English along with rules, regulations and the standard arbitration clause developed by JCAA.

Australian Network for Japanese Law

The Australian Network for Japanese Law is maintained by the College of Law at the Australian National University, the Faculty of Law at Bond University and the Faculty of Law at the University of Sydney. Membership is not required to view the site, but is free and offers notifications of upcoming events and conferences. Aside from lists of events, courses and publications, the site also provides some full-text and abstracted articles (from the Journal of Japanese Law) and research papers.

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