Forgotten People: A judicial apology for leprosy patients in Japan

In 2016, the Japanese Supreme Court apologized for establishing a special tribunal for leprosy patients outside a standard courtroom. The Supreme Court initially admitted that the special tribunal was unconstitutional because the unfair procedure and trials discriminated against leprosy patients. The Supreme Court’s decision to establish exceptional courts at the time was not based on scientific research regarding leprosy. These patients were isolated in sanatoriums until 1996, when Parliament abolished the Leprosy Prevention Law. Then, in 2001, the Kumamoto district court accepted governmental responsibility for the legislative inaction that led to the government’s compulsory isolation policy. The Kumamoto court noted that the statute of limitations started in 2001, when the legislature abolished the Leprosy Prevention Law.