The Supreme Court has expanded the scope of political action allowed for government employees in a ruling over whether off-duty deliveries of Japanese Communist Party newspapers by two public servants should be subject to the legal ban on such activities.
The focus of the case is on how the court balanced freedom of expression and the application of criminal charges against government employees who are banned by the National Public Service Law from engaging in political activities.
It is the first ruling by the Supreme Court on this issue and could represent an endorsement of freedom of political activities based on the concept of freedom of expression.