Thanks to all of you, we were able to achieve a landmark victory.

Thank you very much.

We will continue to address the remaining issues.

We will confirm the deletion of information as ordered by the judgment.

A major challenge is working toward enacting legislation to regulate intelligence gathering activities by the public security police in accordance with the Constitution.

Please take a look at the website of the Association for Protecting Freedom to Speak Out and keep an eye on our activities.

A statement was issued regarding Gifu Prefecture's decision to abandon its appeal.

As the plaintiffs in the first instance, we viewed the Nagoya High Court ruling of September 13th as "the best ruling that could be hoped for at the time," and did not appeal.

The deadline for appealing the first instance defendant, Gifu Prefecture, was October 2nd, but on October 1st Gifu Prefecture sent a notice to each plaintiff in the first instance through its attorney, informing them that it would not appeal and that the personal information specified in the judgment had already been deleted. In response to this, on October 2nd, the plaintiffs, their legal team, and the Association for the Protection of Freedom of Speech issued a statement entitled "Regarding Gifu Prefecture's Abandonment of Its Appeal."

(PDF file, 20241002 Statement of Final Judgment.pdf PDF file 121.6 KB download ).

We will widely disseminate the significance of this ruling, and will continue our activities, including new campaigns, with a view to eradicating the insufficient legal control over police activities in Japan to date and the numerous activities that distort democracy.

"High Court Decision Finalized" News Pickup

★Asahi Shimbun October 2, 2024 16:15

Gifu Prefecture will not appeal lawsuit over personal information provided by Ogaki Police Station; High Court ruling to be finalized

https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASSB13SX2SB1OIPE006M.html

★Asahi Shimbun October 3, 2024 5:00

Gifu prefecture abandons appeal against Ogaki Police Station lawsuit, ruling that intelligence gathering by public security was illegal

https://www.asahi.com/articles/DA3S16049571.html

★Chunichi Shimbun October 2, 2024 20:37

Gifu Prefectural Police abandons appeal in lawsuit over personal information collection related to wind power generation in Ogaki; defense team leader calls move "very groundbreaking"

https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/966377

★Jiji Press October 2, 2024 18:25

Police collection of personal information deemed "illegal"; Gifu prefecture gives up appeal

https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2024100201100&g=soc

★Kyodo News October 2, 2024 18:39

Gifu Prefectural Police decides not to appeal deletion of personal information, citing "difficulty in proving claims"

https://www.47news.jp/11568817.html

★NHK Tokai NEWS WEB October 2, 2019 21:03

Gifu Prefecture abandons appeal in lawsuit over police collection of personal information; second trial ruling to be finalized

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/nagoya/20241002/3000037802.html

★CBC TV Wednesday, October 2, 2024 23:51

Gifu Prefectural Police abandons appeal in lawsuit over leak of personal information of opponents of wind power facility construction

Ogaki Police Officer files lawsuit against company for leaking information; second trial ruling ordering compensation and deletion of information to be finalized

https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/-/1465288

★Tokai TV 10/2 (Wed) 21:29 distribution

Gifu Prefecture gives up appeal following appeal court ruling in lawsuit over leak of residents' personal information; ruling upholding residents' request to erase information, etc. to become final

https://www.tokai-tv.com/tokainews/article_20241002_36654

★Gifu Shimbun October 3, 2024 07:47

Gifu Prefecture abandons appeal in lawsuit over personal information regarding wind power generation in Ogaki Prefecture, citing "difficulty in proving claims" by prefectural police

★Mainichi Shimbun 2024/10/3 Tokyo morning edition

Gifu Prefecture will not appeal, ruling that information gathering is "illegal"; lawsuit against Ogaki Police Station to be finalized

https://mainichi.jp/articles/20241003/ddm/041/040/096000c

- Nagoya High Court ruling of September 13, 2024 -

Police collection of personal information is illegal

Order the deletion of information contained in the "minutes"

Full compensation (1.1 million yen to each plaintiff) awarded

We obtained a landmark victory.

The details of this incident (the activities at Kamiishizu, the actions of the plaintiff and defendant after it was discovered, and the defendant's attitude throughout the litigation, which could be described as a "breach of good faith") are described in detail in the judgment.

It gives an easy-to-understand explanation of the whole picture of this incident and what was considered illegal.

It's long, but please read it.

Judgment
Appendix to the judgment

The statement from the day of the verdict is here .

News Pickup

★Chunichi Shimbun Web September 13, 2024 15:16

Appeals court rules Gifu Prefectural Police collects personal information illegally over wind power plant construction, ordering deletion

https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/957515

★Mainichi Shimbun 2024/9/13 16:05

Nagoya High Court rules police intelligence gathering on wind power generation illegal

https://mainichi.jp/articles/20240913/k00/00m/040/235000c

★ Yomiuri Shimbun 2024/09/13 16:55

Nagoya High Court rules Gifu Prefectural Police collect personal information of residents opposed to wind power plant construction and provide it to operator illegally

https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20240913-OYT1T50106/

★Asahi Shimbun September 13, 2024 16:56

Police collection of personal information also deemed "illegal" Nagoya High Court rules, ordering Gifu Prefecture to delete such information

https://www.asahi.com/sp/articles/ASS9D23WZS9DOIPE009M.html

★NHK News September 13, 2024 18:56 (with video)

Nagoya High Court orders deletion of some personal information collected by police over facility construction

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/knews/20240913/k10014581171000.html

★Me-Tele News 9/13 (Fri) 19:14 (video available)

Nagoya High Court rules that Gifu Prefectural Police's information gathering is an "invasion of privacy"

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/30f5ed953c6f4e3316bb3c40c10a44eeadedc895

★Tokai TV 2024/09/13 21:21 (video available)

Police information gathering ruled illegal... Appeal court in Gifu Prefectural Police Ogaki Police Station resident information leak lawsuit: "Constitutional guarantee of freedom"

https://www.tokai-tv.com/tokainews/article_20240913_36342

★Nikkei Newspaper, September 13, 2024, 20:48 (Kyodo News)

Gifu Prefectural Police collects personal information illegally, high court orders some data to be deleted

https://www.nikkei.com/promotion/?n_cid=DSPRM1RT02_now

★Jiji Press September 13, 2024 21:38

Nagoya High Court orders Gifu prefecture to partially erase personal information collected by police, ruling it "illegal" - compensation to be increased

https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2024091301093&g=soc

★Gifu Shimbun September 14, 2024 05:00

Residents call "groundbreaking ruling" in lawsuit over prefectural police collection of personal information, violation of privacy

https://www.gifu-np.co.jp/articles/-/440708

★Gifu Shimbun 9/14 (Sat) 8:12 distribution

Gifu Prefectural Police collect personal information of residents opposed to power plant construction, calling it "unconstitutional"; Nagoya High Court orders partial deletion, calling it "dangerous citizen movement"

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/ddb6107d9694dc8f3b233e1261bbf2e737f62410

★Mainichi Shimbun 2024/9/14 Tokyo morning edition

Gifu Prefectural Police intelligence gathering: Plaintiff praises ruling as best possible; public safety methods criticized, concerns raised over safety

https://mainichi.jp/articles/20240914/ddm/041/040/073000c

★Chunichi Shimbun September 14, 2024 05:05

A warning against the groundless collection of personal information by public authorities: "This is a groundbreaking decision" - Plaintiffs feel refreshed by full amount of compensation

https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/957763?rct=national

The appeal decision will be announced on Friday, September 13th at 3pm in Nagoya High Court, Courtroom 1.

The Nagoya High Court announced the date for the postponed appeal ruling on September 3rd.

Considering the overall state of the "Hasegawa Court" at the high court, it is inconceivable that the ruling will be worse than the first instance ruling. Is the illegality of "information gathering" recognized? How far has the deletion of held personal information progressed? The ruling on August 30th in the case of Mr. Okuda of the Hakuryu-cho apartment building was a ruling that encourages legislation in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution. We can expect great things.

Although this is sudden, we hope you will make time to attend.

Schedule for Friday, September 13th

14:00 Meet in front of Nagoya High Court (lottery for spectators)

14:40 Court procession

・15:00 Judgment

・Flag raising after courtroom and in front of courtroom

・Report meeting Aichi Prefectural Bar Association Hall 5F Hall

The appeal court ruling on the unconstitutionality of the Ogaki Police Citizen Surveillance Lawsuit, which was scheduled to be handed down on May 16th at the Nagoya High Court, has been "postponed ." At this point, there is no indication of when it will be handed down. I speculate with hope that this is because they are conducting more thorough review in order to make a more thorough ruling.

As soon as the date of the ruling is known, we will post it on our website and let you know. We hope that you will make the most of your time to attend the Nagoya High Court on the new date.

[We are still collecting signatures]

The first collection of signatures for the ruling, which we have been requesting since January, was submitted to the Nagoya High Court in early April. We appreciate your cooperation. As the ruling has been postponed, we will continue to collect signatures. Group signatures, even from groups of several people, are also welcome. Please deliver them to the secretariat by the end of May.

→ News from the Association for the Protection of Freedom of Speak Out

■2023.12.12 The 7th Oral Argument of the Appeal Court has concluded.

Professor Sanehara's witness examination The courtroom is full

Judgment will be made on May 16, 2024 (Thursday) 15:20 ~ Nagoya High Court Courtroom No. 1

On this day, there was a witness examination of Takashi Sanehara, a professor at Nanzan University Graduate School of Law, and there was a strong possibility that the trial would be concluded after that, so I really wanted to fill the courtroom.

Thanks to your support, over 100 people came to visit us. The courtroom was full, and at times staff members were forced to give up seats. We would like to thank everyone who came to watch despite the morning rain.

[Video]https://youtu.be/7dBwr314H7I

Takashi Sanehara, professor at Nanzan University Graduate School of Law, was questioned as a witness. The content was very fulfilling and deepened the opinion paper. There was no cross-examination from the defendant's side, and the presiding judge asked follow-up questions about ``information that itself cannot be said to have a high level of privacy.''

Through his testimony, Professor Sanehara stated the following regarding the nature of constitutional review.

[While this case directly concerns the "exchange of information" between Ogaki Police Station and Seatech, we understand that it is a case where the provision, collection, and possession of personal information by the police is at issue. Therefore, it raises the question of constitutional issues regarding the handling of personal information by public institutions. ] [``Protection of rights'', ``infringement of rights'', and ``legitimacy of rights infringement'' will be considered in sequence. ] [First, it is recognized that there is a serious violation of rights through the collection of information by the police. ] [``Identification and appropriateness of the purpose'', ``necessity and appropriateness of the means'', and ``institutional mechanisms to ensure that the means are not inappropriate'' will be considered. ] [If the purpose cannot be specified, the legitimacy cannot be examined. At this stage, it is no longer possible to move on to examining the legitimacy of the purpose, so the examination of constitutionality ends here. The collection of information by the police cannot be justified and is therefore unconstitutional. ]

Afterwards, attorney Yokoyama presented a written opinion regarding the rejection of the police witness examination, and expressed his request to the court.

When asked by the presiding judge, ``Are you going to submit a final written statement?'' he answered, ``I believe that I have made my case sufficiently.'' The court seemed to have been thinking about including a date for the final argument, and seemed to be a little flustered. A discussion was held in the back of the house regarding the day the verdict would be handed down.

The judgment will be handed down on May 16th (Thursday) from 3:20 pm at Nagoya High Court Courtroom No. 1 .

At the conclusion of the trial, each of the plaintiffs of the first instance made brief statements (Mr. Matsushima, who was absent due to poor health, read out what he had given to his attorney in advance). → Appellate court materials and statement of opinion of the plaintiff of the first instance

At the debriefing session, lawyer Hideki Yamada gave an explanation of the entire courtroom that day, and since the trial concluded on that day, the judgment will be written by the court on that day, which is a groundbreaking ruling in the trial to lower welfare standards. He said that he had high expectations for the project. Attorney Fumio Yokoyama expressed his opinion and impressions about the ``wall'' in the Civil Procedure Code that has prevented the interrogation of police witnesses. It is certain that the court was informed that the defendant was trying to conceal the truth of the incident.

Afterwards, each lawyer expressed their impressions of the appeal trial.

【movie】  https://youtu.be/7dBwr314H7I

Documents are → Appellate trial materials

A member of the media asked, ``Do you think that the prefecture and the country, which neither admit or deny nor make a legitimate claim, are willing to lose in court?'' It is true that they would rather compensate (pay money) at the level of saying, ``Providing information on this matter was a mistake'' than reveal even a part of the activities of the public security police. Sho. This is why we were able to reaffirm the importance of winning a judgment that goes beyond the first instance, and the need for our movement to expand and not be limited to ``the judgment of this case.''

The meeting concluded with remarks from the plaintiffs and words of gratitude from co-representative Toi Inaba.

Newspaper page dated December 13, 2023

(Asahi Shimbun, Gifu Shimbun, Chunichi Shimbun)

■2023.10.5 6th oral argument in the appellate court

Next time, Professor Sanehara will be questioned as a witness, and the ``change of complaint'' will be approved.

After a long, hot summer, we can finally feel the signs of autumn. The rain that had fallen in the morning had subsided, and we were able to hold a mini-meeting in front of the Nagoya High Court.

After heading towards the courthouse and calling out the items on the request postcard*, we moved on to the procession to enter the courthouse.

*Over 200 postcards were collected by the secretariat and submitted to the High Court. I have heard that there are many items that have been mailed with stamps attached.

Videohttps://youtu.be/5mIFMvPClts

Documents → Appeals trial materials

In court, it was revealed that the court had taken steps to request ``approval'' under Article 191 of the Civil Procedure Code for the questioning of four witnesses out of the eight public security police officers requested by the plaintiff. (Miwa, Sakagami, and Yokoyama for the Gifu Prefectural Police, and Takahashi, former head of the National Police Agency's Security Bureau for the National Police Agency. Regarding the attributes of these four people, please refer to the court materials of the 5th oral argument, ``Offering Evidence Form.'' (See “Application for Witness”).

Attorney Fumio Yokoyama gave an oral opinion on the ``Supplementary Statement of Evidence'' submitted by the plaintiff, based on the written opinion from the defendant of the first instance (requiring that police witnesses are unnecessary and not hired). The questions to be examined should be sorted out to make the necessity of questioning clearer, and even if a higher authority disapproves of the questions, the court should decide to recruit witnesses and conduct the questions.It should be possible. , it is something that approaches. It also has the meaning of deepening the 9th appeal brief.

The presiding judge announced the hiring of Takashi Sanehara, a professor at Nanzan University Graduate School of Law, as a witness, and took a positive stance by setting aside a ``frame'' for police officer questioning of witnesses.

In addition, regarding the ``change of the complaint'' regarding the request for deletion of personal information, we rejected the opinion from the defendant of the first instance that ``it should not be allowed,'' and instead decided to ``permit.'' He then ordered the defendant of the first instance to thoroughly explain whether or not he approved the change in the complaint.

More than 60 people participated in both the courtroom and the debriefing session. Thank you very much.

The next step is to examine witnesses. A large courtroom has been secured. Please come and visit the court.

★Next oral argument: December 12th (Tuesday) from 10:00 am Nagoya High Court Courtroom No. 1

Witness examination of Takashi Sanehara, professor at Nanzan University Graduate School of Law

In the rainy weather, we held a preliminary meeting (entering the court) for a short time.

About 60 people attended both the hearing and the debriefing meeting (Nagoya City Noh Theater). thank you.

【movie】  https://youtu.be/0zi123PoZPk

In the courtroom, Attorney Fumio Yokoyama read out the gist of the 9th Preliminary Document ~Persons who have the authority to determine whether a civil servant is a "professional secret"~. In the first instance, the police officer's witness was rejected on the grounds that Article 191 of the Code of Civil Procedure could not obtain "approval by a higher authority." This is a document that argues, based on judicial precedents and academic theories, that it is clearly strange that the government's systematic illegal acts by public officials are strongly suspected in lawsuits claiming state reparations, and that the fact that the facts are not clarified by "not acknowledging" goes unnoticed.

In the previous court, it can be interpreted that the court requested a more detailed "specification" of the cancellation request and urged "a change in the purpose of the request," so we "changed the appeal" in response to that request.

The defendant of the first instance has not made any counterarguments to the plaintiff's documents so far. On the other hand, it is said that it will take two months to approve or disapprove of this "change in the purpose of the claim." I don't think they are taking the lawsuit seriously.

I hope that the court will take a resolute stance in which the attitude of the defendant of the first instance does not turn out to be "advantageous."

Documents submitted (including the “summary” read out in court) → Appeal court materials

The next oral argument will be held on October 5 (Thursday) from 14:00 at Nagoya High Court Court No. 1

■ April 20, 2023 Appellate Court 4th Oral Argument Approaching the heart of the trial

It's the season where the fresh green shines.

Prior to entering the court, the 2,663 signatures collected to date were delivered to the clerk's office.

In the midst of the second half of the unified local elections, there were few participants from the Seino area, but some people from Nagoya rushed to the event, so we had a pre-meeting in front of the court (behavior to enter the court), cherry blossoms. About 60 people participated in the debriefing meetings at the hall. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who rushed to the event despite their busy schedules.

[Video] https://youtu.be/fDlw2nHnB3M

Documents submitted (including the “summary” read out in court) → Appeal court materials

After the court, a debriefing meeting was held at the Ouka Kaikan.

(Please see the 4 minutes ofthe "Video" . It is organized.)

First, Attorney Hideki Yamada gave a brief report on the court proceedings that day, and then Attorneys Yoshimoto Ota and Naoki Tarui, who made the main statements, each provided supplementary explanations of the main points.

It was explained that Professor Mitsuhara's written opinion clearly indicates the content that should be examined by the judicial body of the High Court. In addition, in response to the way of thinking that could be called the mob theory of citizens' movements that underlies the decision to allow information collection in the original judgment, citizens' movements and social movements have brought it head-on, ``improve and advance society''. They shared their sympathy for the 8th Preliminary Statement, which stated its significance and stated, "The Constitution and international human rights law place great expectations on civil and social movements."

Furthermore, in the first instance, the defense team explained the current state of efforts regarding the examination of witnesses by police officers, which the court did not employ because it interpreted the Code of Civil Procedure in favor of the defendant.

As a "trailer" for the next round of oral arguments, it was reported that a document will be submitted in detail again regarding the erasure of retained personal information, and that the application for personal identification, including the interpretation of Article 191 of the civil lawsuit, will be submitted. .

It ended with a "word" from the attending attorney and plaintiff.

Next Appellate Trial 5th Oral Argument July 13, 2023 (Thursday) 14:00-Nagoya High Court Court No. 1

■ 2023.1.26 Appeal Trial 3rd Oral Argument Powerful reading

On this day as well, the courtroom seats were almost full. The powerful reading of the summary of the plaintiff's brief was worth listening to.

・Report of the day → Appeal court (Nagoya High Court)

・Documents submitted and read aloud in court → Appeal materials

The next oral argument will be held on Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 14:00.

Nagoya High Court Court No. 1