Japan’s “Review of’penalty’ for violations of COVID-19 quarantine”… Reinforcement of special measures law

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he is considering legal penalties for businesses that violate the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) quarantine rules.

Prime Minister Suga said in an interview with the Asahi Shimbun on the 12th, “There is a point that a balance between compensation and punishment should be made by revising the Special Measures Act. “What do you think?” he answered positively, saying, “It is necessary to effectively create rewards and punishments in order to achieve a certain purpose.”

Prime Minister Suga said, “There is a provision in the Special Measures Act that even if the freedom and rights of the people are limited, minimum obligations for the public must be observed. I want to take appropriate measures accordingly.”

The emergency situation in Japan is issued on the basis of the’Special Measures Act on Countermeasures for New Influenza, etc.’ which was enacted to respond to the new influenza. When the Prime Minister declares an emergency, the governor of the prefecture, the head of the group in the target area, has the authority to order restrictions on the use of business facilities or closure of business facilities. However, since the law does not specify penalties, there are no special countermeasures other than’publishing the list of companies’ even if such quarantine guidelines are violated. For this reason, it is argued at the party meeting that the legal binding power of emergencies should be strengthened, and a fine of 500,000 yen or less should be imposed for violations. Regarding the emergency issued in the first and third prefectures in the metropolitan area, Prime Minister Suga expressed his hope that “with the cooperation of the prefectures, authorities, and the Japanese people, we will be able to return to the third level within a month. The current situation of the spread of Corona 19 in the metropolitan area is classified into the 4 most serious stages out of stages 1-4.

He said to the question that’the opposition already insists that it had to issue an emergency declaration from the end of last November’, he said, “I fully know that there are various proposals. But I think we should focus more on thorough prevention to prevent the spread of infection.”

He put forward a position to listen to experts’ opinions on how to expand the area of ​​emergency to all over Japan.

Prime Minister Suga said, “Last spring, after declaring an emergency in the Tokyo and Osaka areas, the target area was expanded to the whole. When asked, “Is it possible this time?”, “In Osaka and other Kansai regions, I first requested the issuance of (emergency). We also have standards. The first of these is to prevent the spread of infection, so I will judge based on these (standards).”

He added, “For the expansion of (emergency area), we look at the whole and check whether it is okay, and then review it.”

At the request of Osaka Prefecture Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi and others, from the 13th to the 7th of next month, the Japanese government will issue an emergency situation to three regional governments, including Osaka Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture and Hyogo Prefecture. It is known that Aichi Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture also requested an emergency declaration on that day.

When asked,’How will the government respond if the number of confirmed cases does not decrease by the 7th of next month,’ Prime Minister Suga said, “I would like to ask the people to keep a strict distance during this period. I will try my best to limit the increase in infection within a month and return to the third stage.”

[서울=뉴시스]