Outreach Lecture Series④

On the 27th October 2020 Lecture to economic persons at the meeting of the learning association organized by Japanese Consumers' Co-operative Union was held in the Building of Coop in Osaka.

This lecture's theme is "Issues of the Constitutional Amendment; Changes of the Constitution and Protection of the Constitution as the Fundamental Law ".

Because of COVID-19 pandemic, this lecture was made by online for 2 hours (14:00-16:00), the number of participating persons were 91 including the member of all Kansai region.

・At this lecture Prof. Dr. INOUE explained mainly what kind of functions the Constitutional Amendment has, on one hand it has the function of the change of the governmental powers in the state, on the other it has the function of the protection of the Constitution as the fundamental law in the state. The Japanese Constitution is still now original for 73 years, because it is very difficult to amend it as the fundamental law in Japan. As a result, the function of protecting the Constitution as the fundamental law in Japan is strongly effectuated, it is wondered whether there is no necessity of adapting to the change of Japanese society around the international situation and developing the technology. There is the limit of the constitutional amendment as an another issue. In the year of 1946, the Japanese Constitution was enacted through the procedure of the Constitution of the Great Empire of Japan. Therefore, formally seeing, the Japanese Constitution is an Amending Law of the Constitution of the Great Empire of Japan. But the fundamental principles of both Constitutions are quite different, as a result it was wondered whether the Japanese Constitution was legitimated as the fundamental law in Japan. In this point Japanese Constitutional Scholars explain that the transcending the limit of the constitutional amendment is a revolution of the legal sense, and at the time of the decision of accepting Potsdam Declaration by Japanese Emperor the legal revolution happened. Therefore, the Japanese Constitution was enacted by the Japanese people as the sovereign in 1946 and legitimated.

・Outcome; Through the questionnaire after this lecture, the number of answering persons were 44, and 40 persons answered that the lecture was very interesting and good understandable, 3 persons answered general, but one person answered that the lecture was a little bit difficult to hear and understand by online.

・Prof. Dr. INOUE makes a reflection of having been made a difficult contents for economic persons to understand, next time it will made a lecture a little bit easier. Moreover he felt the lecture by online more difficult than by normal way.

no picture, because it was made by online.