2001 (Ju) 1760, Judgment upon the case in which the failure of the Minister of International Trade and Industry to exercise the authority to enforce safety regulations…

Energy Coal and gas power plants
Mining Coal mining

Persons who claimed to have contracted pneumoconiosis due to having worked in dusty coal mines in the Chikuho region or their successors brought this case to seek damages from the government under Article 1, para. 1 of the Law Concerning State Liability for Compensation, on the ground that the failure of the government to exercise the authority to enforce regulations under the Mine Safety Law in order to prevent the outbreak and deterioration of pneumoconiosis in coal mines is illegal.  The Supreme Court of Japan upheld the judgment of the second instance and concluded that: (1) the failure of the Minister of International Trade and Industry to exercise the authority to implement safety regulations including the authority to amend ministerial ordinances under the Mine Safety Law immediately after the enactment of the Pneumoconiosis Law shall be deemed to be illegal for the purpose of the application of Article 1, para. 1 of the Law Concerning State Liability for Compensation; and, (2) the period of extinctive prescription set forth in the second part of Article 724 of the Civil Code shall start from the time when all or part of damage has arisen from an unlawful act if the damage, due to its nature, arises after a considerable period of time has passed since the termination of the act of causing the damage.  See English summary and further details provided by the Supreme Court of Japan at http://www.courts.go.jp/app/hanrei_en/detail?id=696