The Kagoshima District Court on Monday dismissed a suit filed by environmental activists demanding the annulment of the prefecture's approval of the development of two golf courses on the island of Amami Oshima on the grounds that it violated the right to life of the island's rare animal species.
In its ruling, the court said the plaintiffs are not in a legal position to benefit or be damaged by the projects in question.
Presiding Judge Yoshiyasu Enoshita said the plaintiffs in the case either do not live on the island or live at least 6 km from the proposed development sites.
"As such, the plaintiffs are in no danger of being damaged by the development in question," he said.
As to the plaintiffs' claim that they have a right to "environmental merits," such as to enjoy and study nature, the judge said that it was "difficult to interpret that such a specific right is guaranteed by the Constitution."
According to Monday's ruling, the prefecture in March 1992 approved the development of a golf course in the village of Sumiyo. However, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit discovered the droppings of a rare rabbit species, the Amami hare.
The environmentalists then filed the lawsuit in February 1995, with the hare, the Lidth's jay and other animals listed as plaintiffs.
The district court said it was impossible for animals to file a suit, after which the plaintiffs continued with the suit by placing the names of the animals before their own, and claiming they were their nicknames.
The development projects themselves were canceled or put on hold after the plans became economically unfeasible.