On March 25, 2025, Osaka High Court issued a judgment that provisions of the Civil Code and other laws that do not recognize same-sex marriage violate Articles 14(1) and 24(2) of the Constitution of Japan. The court reversed the decision by the Osaka district Court, which ruled that it is not a violation of the Japanese Constitution to disallow marriage between members of the same sex. In the judgement, the high court said that the legal protection for the same-sex couple should be marriage, mentioning that to provide a form of legal protection for same-sex couples that is different from that of legal marriage would create a difference in the way personal survival is achieved based on sexual orientation without a rational basis, which would be abhorrent to the principle of equality under the law, and creating a system that is unique to the union of same-sex couples that is not marriage would undoubtedly raise fears that it would breed further discrimination. LLAN members prepared the full English translation and summary of this decision. (Original Japanese Judgment and Summary)
We are grateful to LLAN members from Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Clifford Chance, Herbert Smith & Freehills, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, Simpson Thacher, Tokyo International Law Office, and ZeLo who prepared the translation.
