ニュース 2015/05/22 DPJ submits a bill to ban hate speech to the Upper House Ogawa(Right) On May 22, the DPJ co-submitted ‘Elimination of Racial and Other Discrimination Bill (Tentative Translation)’ to the House of Councillors together with the Social Democratic Party and an independent Diet member. After the submission, DPJ Next Justice Minister, Toshio Ogawa, held a press conference and explained the outline of the DPJ proposal to reporters, saying, “We have given this legislation the status of a basic law based on the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The law stipulates that hate speech is a discriminatory act and bans such speech. We have clearly specified it as an activity that must be banned, although there is no criminal penalty for breaking the law.” Ogawa also mentioned that although the DPJ had originally sought non-partisan submission of the bill, some parties had chosen not to sponsor the bill although they had expressed their approval for the general content of the legislation. Ogawa finished by saying, “We would like to ask other parties for their understanding through Diet deliberations and to pass the legislation in a harmonious way.”