JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Takefumi Sato, Aoi Inoue, Kosuke Tsunashima and Ryohei Ikeda, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
Post-Judgment Measures The judgment creditor can use the Civil Execution Act to obtain information concerning the judgment obli - gor’s assets once a monetary judgment in favour of the creditor becomes final and irrevocable or comes with a declaration of provisional execution (see 2.1 Types of Domestic Judgments ). The Civil Execution Act allows a judgment creditor to request a court order compelling the judgment obligor to disclose their property if the creditor can demon - strate certain prescribed matters – for example, that they could not or would not collect money from the judgment obligor’s known assets. The judgment obli - gor’s failure to comply with the compelling order is punishable by up to six months in prison and/or fines of up to JPY500,000. Moreover, a judgment creditor may request a court order against third parties in order to compel the dis - closure of certain information regarding the judgment obligor’s assets. This includes information about bank deposits, listed stocks and government or corporate bonds from banks and other financial institutions. The judgment creditor may also collect information about real property owned by the judgment debtor from a relevant registry office. Japanese courts have the power to render three types of final judgment, which are outlined here, on the mer - its of the case in civil litigation. Judgment for performance (kyufu hanketsu) This is an ordinary type of judgment, in which the court orders the losing defendant to perform (or not to per - form) certain acts, such as the payment of damages, repayment of loans, eviction from premises, delivery of goods and restitution. The court may render a declaration of provisional exe - cution, along with the judgment in favour of the plain - tiff, in monetary judgments. In this case, the plaintiff is 2. Domestic Judgments 2.1 Types of Domestic Judgments Final Judgment
entitled to execute the judgment before it is finalised, even if the losing defendant appeals the judgment. Declaratory judgment (kakunin hanketsu) This type of judgment is a court declaration regard - ing rights and obligations and other legal relationships between the plaintiff and the defendant. A declara - tory judgment is literally and merely a declaration and cannot be enforced. Thus, in many cases, the plaintiff should seek an ordinary judgment for the defendant’s performance. Formative judgment (keisei hanketsu) The purpose of this type of judgment is to create and form rights and obligations or legal relationships between the plaintiff and the defendant. Formative judgments are only available in a limited number of cases prescribed by law, such as the revocation of a shareholders’ resolution made in a shareholders’ meeting under the Companies Act. Interlocutory Judgment An interlocutory judgment may be rendered prior to the final judgment at the sole discretion of the court when an independent defence or other interlocutory dispute is considered ripe for decision. Unlike a sum - mary judgment that is available in some other jurisdic - tions, an interlocutory judgment is not a final judgment on the merits of the case and therefore cannot be enforced. Preliminary Relief In order to preserve the debtor’s assets prior to initiat - ing a lawsuit for a monetary claim, a creditor may seek the following preliminary reliefs ex parte: • provisional attachment ( kari sashiosae ) – this is to prohibit the debtor from disposing of a specific piece of property for the purpose of preserving their assets; or • provisional disposition ( kari shobun ) – this is to prohibit the debtor from disposing of property in dispute or exercising rights attached to it. 2.2 Enforcement of Domestic Judgments Pursuant to the Civil Execution Act, a final and irrevo - cable domestic judgment and a judgment with a dec - laration of provisional execution may be enforced by
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