Sanctions 2025

JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Eiji Kobayashi, Masaki Fujita, Suguru Yokoi and Ryusuke Bushimata, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune

4.3 Timing Administrative Review of a Designation

whom a sanction applies may choose to file either a request for review or a motion to revoke. No case challenging a sanctions designation has been identified in the published legal sources as of 20 June 2025. Administrative Review of a Designation With regard to a request for the review of a designa - tion, a person who is dissatisfied with a sanctions des - ignation may file a request with MOFA for the review of the impugned designation within three months from the day following that on which the person comes to know of the designation, but this must be done before one year has passed from the day following that on which the designation was made. If, during the review procedure, a designation is deter - mined to be illegal or unjust, it is revoked or altered retroactively. Judicial Review of a Designation With respect to a lawsuit for the revocation of a des - ignation, the lawsuit must be filed within six months of the date on which the person became aware of the designation, but this must be done before a period of one year has elapsed from the date of the designation. If a designation is found to be illegal, it is revoked retroactively. 4.2 Remedies A revocation of a sanctions designation does not automatically grant a right in damages. A person who was designated as a sanctioned person may file a lawsuit against the state for damages under the State Redress Act. The illegality of an administrative dis - position is determined under the State Redress Act separately, even if the disposition was judged to be illegal and revoked in the review procedure or the court proceedings. The illegality of a designation under the State Redress Act will be recognised only in the case where officials have made the designation in a care - less manner without exercising the duty of care that the officials should normally exercise in the course of their duties.

As for administrative review, legislation encourages administrative agencies to determine and announce publicly the standard period necessary for the carrying out of a review; however, this recommendation has not been followed publicly by MOFA. Statistics related to the duration of an administrative review by all public agencies in 2019 show that 80% of all reviews were completed within one year. Judicial Review of a Designation As for a motion to revoke a sanctions designation, the duration of the proceeding will vary depending on the situation, but will likely require a couple of months at least. 5. Trade and Export Restrictions 5.1 Services Sanctions on the provision of technologies and ser - vices are in place mainly in relation to North Korea and Russia. • Sanctions against North Korea: Sanctions restrict the provision of financial services whose purpose is to contribute to the nuclear industry of North Korea. • Sanctions against Russia: Japanese residents are prohibited from providing services, such as the settling of trusts, auditing, management consulting, civil engineering and construction, or plant engi - neering, to a Russian entity, except when being provided to a Russian subsidiary of a Japanese resident entity. Japanese residents are also pro - hibited from providing to a non-resident services such as maritime transportation, customs clear - ance, issuance of letters of credit or the provision of non-life insurance policies in connection with the purchase of Russian oil and oil products at prices exceeding the specified limit. 5.2 Goods Bans on the export and import of goods are in place mainly in relation to North Korea and Russia.

129 CHAMBERS.COM