Institute for Migrant Rights
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Migration Jurisprudence from the South › Japan

Local voting rights of permanent residents

Supreme Court of Japan · Japan · 1995-02-28 · National court

Citation: Heisei 5 (Gyo-Tsu) No. 163
Type of case: Constitutional and human rights
Outcome: Decided against the migrant side

Question

Does the Constitution guarantee foreign permanent residents the vote in local elections?

What the court decided

No, but the Constitution does not forbid Parliament from granting it.

In plain language

Korean permanent residents asked to vote in local elections. The Supreme Court said the Constitution does not give them that right, but Parliament could give it by law.

Dalam bahasa sederhana

Penduduk tetap keturunan Korea meminta hak memilih dalam pemilihan daerah. MA menyatakan konstitusi tidak memberi hak itu, tetapi parlemen boleh memberikannya lewat UU.

Pertanyaan: Apakah konstitusi menjamin hak pilih penduduk tetap asing dalam pemilihan daerah?

What happened afterwards

  • 1995-02-28: Judgment.

Sources

Open this decision in the interactive collection (compare, filter, Indonesian view, downloads).

Cite as: Institute for Migrant Rights (2026), Migration Jurisprudence from the South, version 0.1, https://theimr.org/court-decisions/d/jp-suffrage-1995/. This page summarizes a court decision for research and advocacy; it is not legal advice.

For researchers

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