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The Supreme Court of Japan upholds the Tokyo High Court 's order to dissolve the Unification Church .
Confirmed
The Supreme Court has upheld lower court rulings ordering the dissolution of the controversial religious group known as the Unification Church, rejecting a special appeal filed by the organization. The Supreme Court found that the Unification Church’s continued solicitation of donations over long periods hurt many people financially and psychologically, and ruled that the group clearly committed acts that substantially harmed public welfare, a situation that warrants a dissolution order under the Religious Corporations Act. In a ruling issued Monday, the court’s Third Petty Bench, presided over by Justice Eriko Watanabe, said the dissolution order “does not violate the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion and association.
TOKYO – Japan’s Supreme Court has upheld a lower court order urging the controversial religious group Unification Church to disband, calling it “necessary and inevitable” after decades of its aggressive donation-soliciting tactics.
The ruling came after the group, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, appealed against the dissolution order issued by the Tokyo High Court in March. The Tokyo District Court issued the dissolution order in March last year, and the Tokyo High Court dismissed an appeal filed by the group in March this year. At the time, the high court ruled that damages suffered by victims of the church’s donation practice between March 1973 and June 2016 totalled about 7.4 billion yen (S$59 million). The Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult group, which carried out the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, was also ordered to disband. The court said its dissolution was warranted in the absence of effective measures to stop the group’s practice of soliciting massive donations by urging followers to meet unachievable targets.
What's confirmed
- The Supreme Court has upheld lower court rulings ordering the dissolution of the controversial religious group known as the Unification Church, rejecting a special appeal filed by the organization.
- The Tokyo District Court issued the dissolution order in March last year, and the Tokyo High Court dismissed an appeal filed by the group in March this year.
- TOKYO – Japan’s Supreme Court has upheld a lower court order urging the controversial religious group Unification Church to disband, calling it “necessary and inevitable” after decades of its aggressive…
- The ruling came after the group, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, appealed against the dissolution order issued by the Tokyo High Court in March.
What's still developing
- In a ruling issued Monday, the court’s Third Petty Bench, presided over by Justice Eriko Watanabe, said the dissolution order “does not violate the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion and association.
- The Supreme Court found that the Unification Church’s continued solicitation of donations over long periods hurt many people financially and psychologically, and ruled that the group clearly committed acts that…
- The court said its dissolution was warranted in the absence of effective measures to stop the group’s practice of soliciting massive donations by urging followers to meet unachievable targets.
- At the time, the high court ruled that damages suffered by victims of the church’s donation practice between March 1973 and June 2016 totalled about 7.4 billion yen (S$59 million).
- This marks the first case in Japan in which a religious group has been ordered to disband for violating the Civil Code.
- The Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult group, which carried out the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, was also ordered to disband.