Fukuzo Hasegawa: Insights from Within the Forest of Law

2022/05/30

Currently, there are over 2,000 laws in effect in Japan (with 2,078 registered in the e-Gov Law Search). However, among them, there is no single law named "Administrative Law." This can be considered a characteristic that distinguishes it from other legal fields such as the "Constitution," "Civil Code," or "Penal Code." The homes and school buildings we use daily are constructed in accordance with regulations like the Building Standards Act and the City Planning Act, and the infrastructure and public transportation we use for work or leisure involve various laws such as the Road Traffic Act.

One of the roles of administrative law studies is to systematically examine the groups of regulations concerning administration—which are interconnected like a forest—from a legal perspective. Consequently, when conducting research, there are relatively many instances where one engages not only with interpretive theory but also with legislative and policy theory. This is also evident from the fact that "Die Verwaltung," a leading academic journal on administrative law in Germany, covers both administrative law and public administration.

From the spring to the summer of 2019, I stayed in Germany—the theoretical origin of Japanese administrative law—as a visiting researcher. I still recall the discussions I had with local professors and researchers at that time. As it was the transition year from the Heisei to the Reiwa era, I was struck by the high level of interest in Japan's legal system and history.

"Why did democratic legal systems born in Europe develop to such an extent in a distant country like Japan, on the other side of the world?" I vividly remember being asked this by a young German researcher. I explained in my own way (though perhaps not with perfect precision) that it was due to the existence of legal systems dating back to the Ritsuryo codes, as well as the passion and actions of our predecessors from the late Edo period through the Meiji era. This question made me realize something important about studying law.

Alongside researching literature and materials, over the past two years, I have had more opportunities to conduct remote Q&A sessions with civil servants from distant local governments and university researchers. The trend of widespread online meetings has expanded the scope of dialogue. On the other hand, I feel I have also rediscovered the importance of face-to-face interaction. In Hideo Kobayashi's essay "On Thinking," there is a passage that says, "The future is about desiring and choosing." I hope to utilize the precious experiences of this transitional period to help the structures and theories of administrative law flourish for the benefit of the next generation.