The former mayor of Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture, said Sunday more than 750 people have agreed to join a collective lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of the nation's security legislation.
Mitsushige Yamanaka said at a press conference that a group of lawyers will be entrusted to file the lawsuit some time around February at the earliest.
He said that in the lawsuit, the group will ask the court to ban the government from exercising the law and order the government to pay damages for infringement of the right to live in peace.
The constitutionality of a law alone cannot be judged by courts, meaning that such a lawsuit needs to be accompanied by claims of rights violations or those for damages.
Yamanaka set up a citizens' group called PeaceWing in July last year to call on people to join the move.
He filed a similar lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court in September.
He quit his post as mayor the same month after his plan to rebuild the city library using a private finance initiative was voted down by the municipal assembly.
