DetailsOn March 16, the Tokyo District Court rendered a judgment which declared that the Japanese Government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc. (hereafter Tokyo Company) was responsible for the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and had to compensate the victims JPY 59 million (about RMB 3.52million).
The earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011 triggered a severe tsunami in Japan. At the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, power was cut off due to seawater inflow. Three of its four nuclear reactors suffered explosions, causing catastrophic nuclear leakage. Many people in Fukushima still suffer from the impact of the catastrophe now.
Before the catastrophe, Japanese government agencies had issued an assessment report. This report predicted that within the next 30 years, an 8 magnitude earthquake in the area around the Japanese trench including Fukushima would trigger a 20% chance of a tsunami.
On March 16, the judge of the Tokyo District Court affirmed the government and the Tokyo Company to be responsible, based on the assessment report in 2002. The judge thought the Tokyo Company had the obligation to predict tsunami, and if measures were taken it was possible to avoid accidents. The government also has the obligation to predict accidents and supervise the Tokyo Company.
As reported, six cases involving class actions for nuclear accidents have already been pronounced in Japan, and five of them have listed the government as a defendant. This is the fourth case in which the government has been found to be responsible. When our legal rights are infringed by the government in China, there also exists many ways of remedy such as administrative reconsideration, application for administrative compensation and initiation of an administrative lawsuit.