Abstract:
Shigenori Matsui, Professor of Law, University of British Columbia. Abstract: The Supreme Court of Japan, despite its well-known passive and
conservative stance towards constitutional adjudication, occasionally shows quite a
creative and liberal attitude. Recently, the Supreme Court of Japan has shown this
attitude in its development of pro-consumer jurisprudence involving consumer loan cases.
This development is still more noteworthy because the Supreme Court of Japan ignored
the legislature’s intent to overturn its previous judgments and practically wiped out a
statutory provision enacted by the legislature. As a result of this development, millions
of consumers could demand refunds from consumer loan companies, and consumer loan
companies went into serious financial troubles, triggering massive reorganization of the
industry. This article outlines this development in the consumer loan cases, examines
how the Supreme Court of Japan accomplished this result, and explores the reason why
the Supreme Court of Japan decided to take such a bold action.
