The Tokyo High Court has upheld a lower court decision to order a religious group widely known as the Unification Church to pay a fine for failing to properly respond to government inquiries.
The education and culture ministry had exercised its legal authority to question the group seven times before requesting a court order to revoke the group’s status as a religious corporation in October 2023.
The ministry says it questioned the group on more than 500 points, but the group refused to answer over 100 of them. It asked the Tokyo District Court to impose an administrative penalty on the group.
In March, the court ordered the group’s leader, Tanaka Tomihiro, to pay a fine of 100,000 yen, or about 690 dollars.
The group immediately appealed the decision.
On Tuesday, Tokyo High Court Presiding Judge Tateuchi Hisashi upheld the fine, ruling that the religions group had failed to respond appropriately to the ministry’s right to question.
The judge also addressed the disbandment order requested by the government. He said civil law violations are included in illegal acts that meet the conditions for such an order.
He pointed out that 22 civil suit rulings acknowledging illegal acts by the group and its followers show that acts infringing on property rights and personal rights of numerous victims were repeatedly carried out across the country for a long period. He said this may meet the requirements for a disbandment order.
A separate trial concerning the order is ongoing at the Tokyo District Court. Experts say the outcome may be affected by Tuesday’s Tokyo High Court’s decision.
If the group’s legal status as a religious corporation is revoked, it will lose its tax benefits.