JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Junichi Ikeda, Takayuki Fujii, Satoyuki Nakano and Tomoaki Kitaguchi, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu
ers by assignment and enforcing those rights through lawsuits, mediation, conciliation or any other method. Whether litigation funding is allowed in light of this prohibition has not been legally tested, and it is not clear whether litiga - tion funding is permitted under Japanese law. Contingency fees or “no-win, no-fee” arrange - ments are not prohibited, although pure contin - gency fees or “no-win, no-fee” arrangements are rarely used. 2.16 Existence of Class Actions, Representative Proceedings or Co- Ordinated Proceedings in Product Liability Claims The Act on Special Measures Concerning Civil Proceedings for the Collective Redress for Prop - erty Damage Incurred by Consumers (Act No 96 of 2013) introduced opt-in collective action. Under the Act, a collective action can only be brought by a specified qualified consumer organisation, and not by a consumer. The Act involves a two-phase procedure. • In the first phase, a special qualified consum - er organisation files an action for a declara - tory judgment on common obligations. This action seeks a declaratory judgment that a company has monetary obligations to a considerable number of consumers, based on factual and legal causes common to these consumers (except where an individual consumer has no grounds to claim a pay - ment of money due to circumstances specific to that consumer) where property damage has been incurred by a considerable number of consumers in connection with consumer contracts. • In the second phase, simplified proceed - ings to determine the presence or absence, and the contents, of a claim of each opt-in
consumer for the payment of money ( “simple determination proceedings” ) are carried out by the district court that rendered the final judgment at first instance for a declaratory judgment on common obligations. The scope of claims that can be brought under the Act is limited to those listed therein; compensatory claims under the Product Liability Act (Act No 85 of 1994) are out of its scope. For more details, see 2.2 Standing to Bring Product Liability Claims . In addition to a company (a corporation or any other association or foun - dation, and an individual when the individual conducts the business), under the Act Par - tially Amending the Act on Special Measures Concerning Civil Proceedings for the Collec - tive Redress for Property Damage Incurred by Consumers, which took effect on 1 October 2023, individuals other than companies can be named as defendants (the CAA assumes that a business supervisor or employee who was involved in tortious business practices can be a potential defendant). 2.17 Summary of Significant Recent Product Liability Claims There have been no particularly significant prod - uct liability cases in Japan in recent years. 3. Recent Policy Changes and Outlook 3.1 Trends in Product Liability and Product Safety Policy Measures to Ensure Child Safety – Toys for Infants and Toddlers On 26 June 2024, the Act to Partially Amend the Consumer Products Safety Act and Other Acts was promulgated. Under this amendment, a new regulation has been introduced requiring manu - facturers and importers of toys for infants and
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