Documents with Commentaries Part 5 Enactment of the Constitution of Japan
Studies on the revision of the Law of the Houses of the Diet were started separately both in the Cabinet's Temporary Committee for the Investigation of Legal Systems and the House of Representatives. On June 18, 1946, the House of Representatives during inter-party negotiations decided to establish the Committee to Investigate the Law of the Houses of the Diet. Each party selected members on July 4 to sit on the committee. This committee used the "Provisions to Law of the Houses of the Diet Based on New Constitution" as a tentative plan during their three meetings in August. The committee approved the Draft of the Diet Law on August 30. GHQ was not directly involved with the study done by the Committee to Investigate the Law of the Houses of the Diet, but Justin Williams, the Chief of the Legislative Division (later called the Parliamentary and Political Division), initiated a study of reform of the Diet in Government Section at GHQ.
After the close of the 90th session of the Imperial Diet on October 12, the Committee to Investigate the Law of the Houses of the Diet rushed to draft a proposal for the Law of the Houses of the Diet. On October 22, the President of the House of Representatives notified the Cabinet that the House of Representatives would submit the Diet Law Proposal, a completely revised Law of the Houses of the Diet, to the 91st session of the Imperial Diet. The first draft was finished at the end of October, and after it was sent to GHQ, negotiations continued with Williams until the fifth and final draft of the bill. At the 91st session of the Imperial Diet, the bill was submitted as a joint proposal to the House of Representatives on December 17, and approved on the 21st. However the session ended before the deliberations in the House of Peers were completed, so the bill was submitted again the following year at the 92nd session of the Imperial Diet. The House of Peers passed it with amendments on March 19 and it was promulgated on April 30 and enacted at the same time as the new Constitution on May 3.
| Actual Title of Source | Shinkenpo ni Motozuki Giinho ni Kiteisuru Jiko |
|---|---|
| Date | |
| Document Number | Nishizawa Tetsushiro Papers: 251-2 |
| Repository (reproduction) | |
| Repository | National Diet Library |
| Note |
| Actual Title of Source | Kokkaiho Ritsuan Katei ni Okeru GHQ tono Kankei |
|---|---|
| Date | November 10, 1954 |
| Document Number | Nishizawa Tetsushiro Papers: 248 |
| Repository (reproduction) | |
| Repository | National Diet Library |
| Note |
