入会権と入会林野近代化法

抄録

Aside from state-owned forests, there are over 2, 000, 000 hectares of common forest in Japan. The common forest, as a general rule, is under the substantial control of village communities. Since the civil law provides that “the common depends upon the habitual practices of each community, ” legal decisions on the relations of rights to the common are generally made ih accordance with habitual standards.
In fact, however, the usages of the common forest have gradually changed since the early Meiji period, and the migration of people has increased. Consequently, there often arise conflicts on the existence of the common and on the bounds of the group possessing rights. Moreover, the land registration law excludes the common from the rights to be registered, has become less applicable to changing social and economic conditions, and puts great inconvenience upon practical business.
In order to improveniences, the Modernization of the Common Forest Act was established in July, 1966. The purpose of this act is to readjust rights to the common forest and to encourage the transformation of the common into modern and individual rights, instead of the common collective right of the people who have hitherto maintained habitual rights to the common forest. This attempt is fully opposed to the traditional policy which the government has taken since the early Meiji period and which restricts the common as a private right by enclosing the common forest into state and public lands. Thus this act might serve people's individual interest. There is a danger as well, however, that the enforcement of this act may produce the concentration of rights and may lead poor farmers to lose their rights.