Evolution of the Constitution of Japan (1889-1946): comparative research

Abstract

A comparative analysis of the constitutions of Japan in 1889 and 1946, their common features and differences.
 It is concluded that both Basic Laws meant the second, after ancient Chinese law, and the third reception of foreign law. The common features and differences inherent in the constitutions, due to the combination of the influence of foreign law with Japanese traditions, and the importance of constitutions in ensuring rapid and effective political and socio-economic development of the country at two historical stages.
 Common features include small volumes of texts, the proclamation of Japan as a constitutional monarchy by both basic laws, the consolidation of the principle of separation of powers, the duty of subordinates and citizens to pay taxes, the emperor's right to dissolve the lower house of parliament, constitution by foreign legal ideas, foreign law with Japanese traditions, promoting rapid and effective political and socio-economic development and improving the legal culture of the population.
 The differences are the enshrinement of the 1946 Constitution, the principle of people's sovereignty, the radical limitation of the emperor's powers, the proclamation of parliament as the supreme body of state power, the abolition of the hereditary chamber of parliament as part of parliament, its replacement by an elected chamber of advisers parliament, the elimination of estates, the consolidation of political and socio-economic rights of citizens, the declaration of their inviolability and the principle of pacifism. Constitutions differ in the responsibility of deputies for expressing opinions outside parliament, the presence or absence of a section in the text on the government, the Secret Imperial Council, the content of the independence of the judiciary, its structure, the status of the emperor, the powers of government.
 Also among the differences are the formation of constitutions under the influence of different legal families: Anglo-American law on the Basic Law of 1946 and Romano-Germanic law on the content of the Constitution of 1889. The content of the constitutional monarchy is different: the first basic law provides broad executive and legislative powers of the emperor, and the second ‒ a parliamentary monarchy, with purely ceremonial prerogatives of the emperor.