Japan courts order government compensation

In early July 2026, the Fukuoka District Court ordered the prefectural government to pay ¥157 million to a former student injured during a high‑school physical‑education class, finding the school and teacher had breached their duty of care.

Later that month, the Fukuoka High Court issued a separate landmark ruling in the Matsuhashi wrongful‑conviction case, requiring both the national government and Kumamoto Prefecture to compensate the family of Hiroki Miyata for police coercion and prosecutorial misconduct. The appellate court expanded liability to include the prefectural police, contrasting with an earlier decision that held only the national government responsible.

Together, the decisions illustrate a broader judicial trend in Japan toward holding government entities—including prefectural authorities and police—accountable for civil harms, reinforcing state‑liability precedents across disparate contexts such as school negligence and criminal justice errors.