The Supreme Court ruled Friday that the government’s cuts to welfare benefits between 2013 and 2015 were unlawful, marking a significant victory for welfare recipients about a decade after lawsuits were filed over the matter.
Ruling on appeals against decisions by the Osaka and Nagoya high courts, the top court’s Third Petty Bench, presided over by Justice Katsuya Uga, revoked the welfare cuts but dismissed plaintiffs’ damages claims.
Lawsuits on the welfare benefit reductions have been filed with 31 district courts in 29 prefectures around Japan, and the latest Supreme Court decision is expected to influence similar cases nationwide, likely resulting in rulings in favor of plaintiffs.
Over 2 million people were on welfare at the time of the cuts, lowering benefits by a total of ¥67 billion per year from fiscal 2015. The cumulative amount of cuts is believed to reach about ¥300 billion over some five years through 2018.
It remains to be seen whether the government will pay the reduced benefit amount also to recipients who did not take part in lawsuits as plaintiffs.
The court battle centered around the appropriateness of lowering the welfare standard based on deflation and adjusting benefit levels to correct disparities with low-income households.
Plaintiffs argued that the welfare ministry decided the benefit levels without consideration at a subcommittee, and that it overestimated the rate of deflation. The government said that it acted within its discretion.
The Osaka High Court in 2023 overturned a lower court ruling recognizing the plaintiffs’ claims, saying that the government did not exceed its discretionary power. Meanwhile, the Nagoya High Court in the same year ruled in favor of plaintiffs, and recognized their damages claims for the first time.
