A right, even if it is stipulated by statute, may remain only a nominal one. In order to enjoy his living right in actuality, he needs the real social power to enforce fulfillment of their duty under any circumstances by those who owe responsibility to perform a legal duty corresponding to that right. Now the so-called “Claim Campaign” aims at forcing those who owe a legal duty corresponding to the right to fulfil it, that is to say, to realize the right of the common people. Expressly, when the claim is directed to the ruling class, represented by the state and by capital, the campaign is strongly imbued with political andclass-conscious color.
An action has been brought by Mr. Shigeo Asahi, one of the recipients of livelihood assistance under the Daily Life Security Act, calling for a rise in the standard of assistance of the Act. This so-called “Asahi Case” is a typical case of the claim campaigns which have sought the realization of the fundamental human right to mainatin “the minimum standards of wholesome and cultured living”, which is stipulated in Art. 25 of the Constitution of Japan.
This lawsiut has taught many lessons and has given satisfactory results. The teachings of this campaign are these:
1) a “right” can be realized only when a claim for its performance is powerfully advanced,
2) a “Claim Campaign” succeeds only when the campaign has support from the mass of the people and is prosecuted with class-consciousness,
3) such a lawsuit can provoke in the labouring masses a sense of their right to lead a life worthy of man and succeed in encouraging them to develop a wide-range campaign, and
4) a court campaign can have unique significance in claiming the realization of a right.
The
Asahi Case Campaign is one of the most remarkable cases of the process of class strife through which the abstract rights of people are taking concrete shape.
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