The government is considering starting negotiations with former Hansen's disease patients for an out-of-court settlement after filing an appeal against a court ruling last week ordering the state to pay them compensation, government sources said Friday.

The government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party are likely to appeal because not to do so would mean the state accepts that many of the government's previous efforts to deal with the infection were wrong, the sources said, and this might lead to more lawsuits against the state for any official policy and measure taken previously.

The government is also considering acknowledging partial responsibility in a higher court trial after appealing the redress ruling, the sources said.