A parliamentary committee decided Wednesday to refer a high court judge to an impeachment court for posting inappropriate messages on social media that were offensive to parties in two separate trials in 2017 and 2018.
The decision makes Kiichi Okaguchi, 55, of the Sendai High Court, the ninth judge ever to be referred to the Judge Impeachment Court in Japan, and the first for expression of views. Seven judges have been dismissed by the court to date.
While the parliamentary committee for the prosecution of judges has not disclosed the reason for its decision, it is believed to have found grounds for dismissal based on a series of posts that constituted misconduct for a judge.