The following vocabulary are key terms associated with the concepts discussed in this article:
The Constitution of Japan identifies the Diet as the sole law-making organ of the state. The following description provides a simplified overview of the process.
Proposals for laws (legislative bills) can originate from two sources:
Note that citizens cannot directly propose bills for legislation in the Diet.
Whichever house receives the bill will generally review it in committee. After this review, the house members will debate and vote. With simple majority the bill is moved to the next house for a similar process.
If both houses agree by a simple majority, the bill is enacted into law. If the houses disagree, the House of Representatives can override and pass the bill into law with a two-thirds majority.
Once the Diet enacts the law, the Cabinet has 30 days to promulgate the law.
Promulgation is a fancy term meaning: the formal act of officially announcing or publishing a new law or regulation to the public. Laws enacted by the Diet and regulations created by Cabinet, Ministries, etc., are promulgated by being published in National Gazette (官報), the official national record of government of Japan. The law cannot take effect without having been promulgated, however, the Cabinet does not have the legal authority to stop or delay promulgation of enacted law.
Once the law is promulgated it becomes effective, unless the law itself specifies a different effective date that occurs after the promulgation date.
The Constitution and Local Autonomy Act grant local governments authority to enact ordinances and create rules, within the scope of statutory law. There are similarities and differences with the national processes.
The local assembly, whether the prefectural assembly, or the municipal assembly (city council enact ordinances (条例). The chief executive, prefectural governors or municipal mayors, may create rules (規則) for matters pertaining to the execution of laws and ordinances.
There are three sources for proposed laws at the prefectural and municipal level in Japan:
Note a key difference: citizens can propose laws at the local level. Citizens and organizations cannot do this at the national level.
The proposed law is submitted to the assembly body and is first reviewed in a committee. Next, it is passed to the assembly for debate and a vote. Prefectural and municipal assemblies are unicameral, that is they only have a single “house”. Therefore, these proposals can be enacted as ordinances with a simple majority vote.
Note these laws are only effective within the scope provided by national law. National law is supreme and cannot be violated by local ordinance. Moreover, local laws are only permitted to have minor penalties (administrative fees, minor punishments, etc.).
Once enacted by the assembly, the executive (Governor or Mayor), must promulgate the ordinance in the official gazette of the local government. Once published, these laws become effective.
Note that local governments do not promulgate via the National Gazette but have their own local official gazette. These are typically the name of the prefecture or municipality and the suffix 公報 (lit. public record).
For those in the audience coming from a background in the US, a comparison with the system in the US will provide a helpful context.
Proposed bills are introduced to Congress, which is the lawmaking organ of the US federal government. Sources include:
All bills must be sponsored by a member of Congress, to be considered.
Like Japan, the US Congress is a bicameral system, i.e. two houses: a lower House of Representatives and an upper House of the Senate. Also, like Japan, bills are first considered in committee, the debated and voted on by the whole house. Once clearing one house the bill is passed to the next house for similar treatment.
Before the law is enacted, there is a process of “reconciliation” where the versions passed by each house are reconciled. Then that version must be passed by simple majority by both houses.
Then the passed bill is moved to the President for signature, which enacted the bill into law. The President has the power to veto the bill; however, Congress can override the veto and enact the law with a two-thirds majority in both houses.
Laws at the state and local levels are similar. States generally also have a bicameral legislative assembly, unlike in Japan, where the prefectural assemblies are typically a single house (unicameral). However, local governments, e.g. counties and municipalities, typically have a single “council” assembly.
US States have considerably more sovereignty in enacting law than Prefectures in Japan. This gives rise to the large degree of variety in local and state building codes and related laws in the US.