Abstract
As well as in Germany and in the other countries, creditor’s burden of finding debtor’s property has been a serious problem in Japan. Creditors have long lacked effective measures to obtain information about debtor’s property. The 2019 reform of the Civil Execution Act addressed this problem by two means - the one was to enhance a procedure to make a debtor disclose his/her/its property, and the other was to introduce new procedures for acquiring information from a third party like banks, registry offices, municipalities, etc. The reformed act is expected to be a great help for a creditor, like the German system, to make his/her claim truly enforceable.
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Notes
- 1.
Act No. 4 of 1979. An unofficial English translation of this act can be accessed at Japanese Law Translation (http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=3483&vm=02&re=01&new=1 (Last visited on Sep. 3, 2021)).
- 2.
CEA (before 2019 amendment) art. 206. JPY300,000 approximates USD 2,727 at the currency rate as of Sep. 2021.
- 3.
In 2017, Only 686 Property Disclosure cases are filed and only 253 cases were settled with debtors' disclosure of their property. Muneki Uchino et al., Minji Shikko-ho to no Kaisei no Yoten [Points of the Amendment of the Civil Execution Act etc.], 2118 Kin'yu Homu Jijyo 36 (2019), at 38.
- 4.
Nakayama v. Yoshida, 65 Minshu 2710 (Sup. Ct., Sep. 20, 2011). Unofficial English translation of the judgment can be accessed at Courts in Japan (https://www.courts.go.jp/app/hanrei_en/detail?id=1118 (Last visited on Sep. 3, 2021)).
- 5.
Nakayama v. Yoshida, supra note 7. X v. Y., 1386 Hanrei Taimuzu 182 (Sup. Ct., Jan. 17, 2013).
- 6.
Attorney Act, Act No. 205 of 1949, art. 23-2. An unofficial English translation of this act can be accessed at Japanese Law Translation (http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=3528&vm=02&re=01&new=1 (Last visited on Sep. 3, 2021)).
- 7.
Though responding to the bar association's inquiry can be deemed as a legitimate ground to exempt the duty of confidentiality of the inquired office/organization, the inquired has to judge whether its response is within an appropriate range at its own risk—when it disclose too much information about its customers etc., it would be blamed for the breach of confidentiality. It therefore has to be cautious about responding to the inquiry.
- 8.
The Supreme Court dismissed an action by a bar association for compensation for damages against a postal service company which claimed confidentiality and refused to respond to the inquiry. Aichi Bar Association v. Japan Post co., 70 Minshu 1725 (Sup. Ct., Oct. 18, 2016). Unofficial English translation of the judgment can be accessed at Courts in Japan (https://www.courts.go.jp/app/hanrei_en/detail?id=1490 (Last visited on Sep. 3, 2021)). In this case, the inquiry was made to obtain the new address of the debtor who secretly relocated while the creditor prepared for filing compulsory execution. There is another judgment on the same case, which dismissed a bar association’s action seeking a declaratory judgment of the duty to give a response to the inquiry as unlawful. Aichi Bar Association v. Japan Post co., 72 Minshu 1368 (Sup. Ct., Dec. 21, 2018). Unofficial English translation of the judgment can be accessed at Courts in Japan (https://www.courts.go.jp/app/hanrei_en/detail?id=1627 (Last visited on Sep. 3, 2021)).
- 9.
See Civil Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Justice of Japan, Outline of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Execution Act and the Act for Implementation of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, at Japanese Law Translation (http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/common/data/outline/191217095043_Re_9053101.pdf (Last visited on Sep. 3, 2021)).
- 10.
CEA art. 197. In these years, a notarial deed is increasingly being used to agree on child support. Satoshi Aoki, Minji Shikko-ho no Kaisei–Saimusha no Zaisan Jyokyo no Chosa wo Chushin ni [Reform of the Civil Execution Act–Mainly Focusing on the Investigation of Status of Obligor’s Property], 1537 Jurisuto 58 (2019), at 59.
- 11.
CEA art. 213. JPY500,000 approximates USD 4,545 at the currency rate as of Sep. 2021.
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Tega, H. (2022). Investigation of Debtor’s Property in Japan—To Make Claims Truly Enforceable. In: Deguchi, M. (eds) Effective Enforcement of Creditors’ Rights. Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, vol 91. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5609-5_9
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