State Secrecy Law
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The State Secrecy Law, officially the , Act No. 108 of 2013, is a law in Japan allowing the government to designate defense and other sensitive information as "special secrets" that are protected from public disclosure.


History

Prior to the passage of the SSL, incidents where espionage cases involving hostile foreign intelligence agencies were handled through use of other laws such as the Passport or SDF Law. An attempt was made to pass an anti-espionage law during the administration of Yasuhiro Nakasone in 1985. Concerns were raised on how whether human rights will be violated and whether there is a balance between public interest and the necessity of protecting state secrets. No law was passed due to outcry from the opposition due to the negative legacy of the Kempeitai. Proposed by the second Abe cabinet, the law was approved by the Security Council on October 25, 2013, then was submitted to the
National Diet , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...
, before being approved there as well on December 6 the same year. The law was promulgated on December 13, 2013, and came into force one year later. On December 24, 2022, the JMSDF Criminal Investigation Command (CIC) investigated the first breach of the SSL after a captain was charged for leaking classified information. Among the information that was illegally disclosed included intelligence acquired by American military forces to a former JMSDF admiral, who said that classified information should not be disclosed to him. Captain Takashi Inoue was dismissed from the JMSDF. At the time of his dismissal, Captain Inoue was posted at the JMSDF Command and Staff College. On January 19, 2023, the leaks reported included information on Chinese ships in Japanese territorial waters. On April 27, 2023, violations of the SSL were reported with officers in the JMSDF and the JGSDF for failing to ensure lower-ranked personnel have received appropriate clearances.


Overview

The Japanese secrecy law covers defense, diplomacy, public safety and counter-terrorism. In addition, it allows the government to lock away government documents for 60 years. Civil servants leaking information can expect ten years incarceration while journalists and other civilians helping them would get five years.


Process

Before SDS was launched, the Abe cabinet established the
National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...
(NSC) on December 4, 2013. The Abe cabinet explained that SDS and the Japanese NSC should work together. Public comment were heard from July 24, 2014, to August 24, 2014. The government announced that SDS would come into force on December 10, 2014.


Designation of Special Secret

The head of an administrative organ shall designate as Specially Designated Secrets #information of the types listed below #which is kept undisclosed #which requires special secrecy because unauthorized disclosure thereof would cause severe damage to the national security of Japan


Types of information

*Item (i)
Defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...
*Equivalent to the Appended Table 4 of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) Law (a) Operation of the Self-Defense Forces or thereto relevant assessments, plans or research (b) Signal or imagery information, and other important information collected in relation to defense (c) Collection and organization of information listed in (b) or the capacity to do so (d) Assessments, plans or research pertaining to development of defense capability (e) Type or quantity of weapons, ammunition, aircraft and other material for defense use (f) Structure of communications network and means of communications for defense use (g) Cryptology for defense use (h) Specifications, performance or usage of weapons, ammunition, aircraft or other material for defense use including those at the R&D stage (i) Methods of production, inspection, repair or examination of weapons, ammunition, aircraft and other material for defense use including those at the R&D stage (j) Design, performance or internal use of facilities for defense use *Item (ii)
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...
(a) Among policy or contents of negotiations or cooperation with foreign governments or international organizations, those pertaining to the protection of lives and bodies of people, territorial integrity and other issues deemed important to national security (b) Measures including embargoes on imports or exports that Japan carries out for national security purposes or thereto relevant policies (c) Important information collected regarding the protection of the lives and bodies of people, territorial integrity, or the peace and security of the international community, or information that requires protection under international agreements including treaties related to national security (d) Collection and organization of information listed in (c) or the capacity to do so (e) Cryptology for diplomatic use, including communications between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Japanese diplomatic establishments *Item (iii) Prevention of Designated Harmful Activities (e.g. Counterintelligence) (a) Measures to prevent Designated Harmful Activities or thereto relevant plans or research (b) Important information collected on the protection of lives and bodies of people, or information collected from foreign governments or international organizations in relation to prevention of Designated Harmful Activities (c) Collection and organization of information listed in (b) or the capacity to do so (d) Cryptology used for prevention of Designated Harmful Activities *Item (iv) Prevention of
Terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
(a) Measures to prevent terrorism or thereto relevant plans or research (b) Important information collected on the protection of lives and bodies of people, or information collected from foreign governments or international organizations in relation to prevention of terrorism (c) Collection and organization of information listed in (b) or the capacity to do so (d) Cryptology used for prevention of terrorism


Security clearance

Access to SDS shall be limited to government personnel, employees of Government of Japan contractors and prefectural police officers who, following the security clearance process, are identified as not risking unauthorized disclosure of SDS.


Penalty

*Unauthorized disclosure of SDS shall be punished when intentionally or negligently committed by: **Those handling SDS as part of their ok ::Intentional: Imprisonment for not more than 10 years ::By negligence: Imprisonment for not more than 2 years or fine of not more than 500,000 yen :*Those receiving and thus knowing SDS from an administrative organ for the sake of the public interest Intentional: Imprisonment for not more than 5 years ::By negligence: Imprisonment for not more than 1 year or fine of not more than 300,000 yen *Acquisition of SDS through the following acts to serve the interests of foreign countries, etc. shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 10 years: :(1) Fraud, assault or intimidation; (2) Theft; (3) Intrusion on relevant facilities; (4) Eavesdropping on wired telecommunications; (5) Unauthorized access; (6) Any other act excluding (2) to (5) that undermines control of SDS holders. *Those who attempt, conspire to effect, instigate or incite intentional leakage or acquisition of SDS through the acts listed above shall be punished.


Reactions

About 80% of the Japanese population had opposed the law.
Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...
called the law "an unprecedented threat to
freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...
of information". Critics claim that the law is vague on what constitutes a "state secret" and represents a return to pre-WW II militarism when the Peace Preservation Act was used to stifle political opposition. They also contend that the law undermines basic democratic freedom and makes the administration "the judge, jury, and enforcer" in the matter. There have also been claims that the law has led to an "increase in self-control and even self-censorship in the reporting of issues that do not correspond to the government’s political direction." The law was hailed by the American ambassador,
Caroline Kennedy Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (born November 27, 1957) is an American author, diplomat, and attorney who served as the List of ambassadors of the United States to Australia, United States ambassador to Australia from 2022 to 2024. She previously serv ...
, and was seen as a victory for the United States government that had pressured Shinzo Abe and his government to control classified information more tightly. In the decades before, the 1952 Special Criminal Act and the 1954 United States Mutual Security Act Secrets Protection Law protected military equipment that the U. S. provided for Japan. With the "War on Terror" and the challenges by China and North Korea and a number of events where military security was breached by Japan, it was argued that the government established the law to strengthen its relationship in the context of its partnership with the United States. In a 2016 assessment of the impact of the law, Aditi Razdan indicated that while the law may have a chilling effect on the media, the extent of this is difficult to measure, as " en a state secret itself is not defined, it is nearly impossible to determine what media outlets can no longer report on." In the annual ranking of global
press freedom Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...
Reporters Without Borders lowered Japan from the 11th place in 2010 to the 72nd place in 2016 because of the law about "state secrets".


See also

*
Alien and Sedition Acts The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 were a set of four United States statutes that sought, on national security grounds, to restrict immigration and limit 1st Amendment protections for freedom of speech. They were endorsed by the Federalist Par ...
in the United States


References

{{Reflist


External links


Overview of the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets

Japanese Secrecy Law and International Standards
by Morton H. Halperin, Molly Hofsommer,
Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...
, September 2014 Japanese legislation Classified information