The Laws on Administrative Procedures

This chapter reviews the laws regulating administrative procedures in Japan. Through these laws, the government of Japan has established procedures for appropriate information management and the protection of the rights and interests of the public regarding administrative activities. We discuss the following major laws here: (1) the Public Records and Archives Management Act, (2) the Act on Access to Information Held by Administrative Organs, (3) the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, (4) the Administrative Procedure Act, and (5) the Administrative Complaint Review Act. We point out that these laws all entrust their operations to administrative organs and staff. This discretion has led to inappropriate acts by civil servants over recent years. Therefore, future reforms must focus on improving operations within administrative organs. This relates to having a functional management system and effective training methods, which belong to the realm of public administration. Therefore, although the practice and reform of these laws have traditionally been studied in administrative jurisprudence in Japan, we should develop relevant public administration-related literature as well.