We hereby give our sanction to the present ordinance relating to the
amendment of the newpaper regulations and order it to be
promulgated.
Imperial Ordinance No.
75.—Newspaper Regulations.
Art. I. Any person desiring to publish a
newspaper shall, two weeks previous to the day of the first
publication thereof, send in a notice to that effect to the
department of state for home affairs through the local government
authorities (in Tokyo, [Page 1066]
through the metropolitan police office) in whose jurisdiction the
said newspaper is to be published.
Art. II. In the said notice of intention of
the publication of a newspaper the following particulars shall be
mentioned:
- (1)
- The name of the newspaper.
- (2)
- The nature of the topics to be treated.
- (3)
- The periods of publication.
- (4)
- The place wherein published and the place wherein
printed.
- (5)
- The names and ages of the publisher, editor, and
printer.
When there are two or more editors the name of that editor shall be
given who has the principal charge of the editorship. It is,
however, permitted that the editing of a paper be divided into
several sections, and that a responsible editor be placed over each
one thereof.
Art. II. When, after the foregoing notice
has been given, any change is to be made in the name of the
newspaper, in the nature of the topics to be treated, or of the
publisher, a notice shall be sent in two weeks beforehand, in
accordance with the provisions of Article I.
Whenever any change has been made in the period or place of
publication of any newspaper, in the place where it is printed, in
its editor, or in its printer, a notice to that effect shall be sent
within one week, in accordance with the provisions mentioned in
Article I.
Art. IV. When the publisher of a newspaper
has died or has become legally disqualified a new publisher shall be
instituted, and a notice thereof shall be given within one week, in
accordance with the provisions of Article I. In the meanwhile, the
paper maybe published under the name of the “provisional
publisher.”
Art. V. When there has been no issue of a
newspaper after a lapse of fifty days from the day on which notice
of its intended publication has been sent in, or from the day on
which its publication has been stopped, the said notice of
publication shall become void.
Art. VI. Only a Japanese male subject above
twenty full years of age can become the publisher, editor, or
printer of a newspaper.
No one who has been deprived of his public rights can become the
publisher, editor, or printer of a newspaper, nor can any one do so
whose public rights have been suspended, as long as they remain so
suspended.
Art. VII. Neither the editor nor the
printer of a newspaper is allowed to act at one and the same time in
both capacities.
Art. VIII. Every publisher of a newspaper
shall, simultaneously with the giving of notice of intended
publication of a newspaper, deposit with the local government
authorities (in Tokyo with the metropolitan police office) one or
the other of the following sums of money as security:
- (1)
- In Tokyo, one thousand (1,000) yen.
- (2)
- In Kyoto, Osaka, Yokohama, Hyogo, Kobe, and Nagasaki,
seven hundred (700) yen.
- (3)
- In all other localities, three hundred (300) yen.
One-half only of the above specified respective amounts shall be
required of newspapers published three or fewer times per month.
The security required may be furnished in the form of public loan
bonds at the current market rate, or in the form of deposit notes
issued by national banks.
Such papers as contain only matters relating to science, art,
statistics, Government notifications, or to reports of market
prices, shall not fall within the scope of the provisions of this
article.
Art. IX. The security shall be returned
when the publication of the newspaper has been discontinued or
prohibited.
Art. X. When the notice mentioned in
Articles I, III, and IV has not been sent in, or when a newspaper,
for which security is required, has been published without the
deposit thereof, the chief of the metropolitan police office or the
governor of the locality shall stop the publication of such
newspaper until the proper notice has been given or the security has
been deposited.
Art. XI. A newspaper shall contain in each
and every issue the names of the publisher, of the editor, and of
the printer, as well as of the place of publication.
Any one appending his signature to a newspaper or to any statement
therein contained, Otherwise than as the publisher or printer of the
newspaper, shall be held equally responsible with the editor
thereof.
Art. XII. On the issue of every number of a
newspaper, two copies thereof shall be at once sent to the
department of state for home affairs, and a copy each to the local
government authorities (in Tokyo to the metropolitan police office)
and to the public prosecutor’s office in the court of first instance
of the locality of publication.
Art. XIII. Whenever a misstatement has been
made in a newspaper, and the party affected thereby, or any party
concerned in the matter, demands its correction, or sends for
publication a communication containing correction or protest, the
correction shall [Page 1067] be made
or the communication of correction or protest shall be published in
full in the second or third issue after the receipt of such demand
or communication. In case, the number of words in the said
communication should exceed twice the number thereof in the original
statement, the newspaper may make, for the number of words in
excess, a charge at the rate established for ordinary
advertisements.
The correction or protest shall be published in the same type as was
the original statement, and at the head of the same division of the
newspaper.
When either the language or the spirit of the said communication of
correction or protest is in conflict with the law, or when the
person demanding the publication of the said communication does not
give his name and address, such communication need not be
published.
Art. XIV. Whenever, with respect to items
taken from the Official Gazette or from any other newspaper, a
correction has been made or a communication of correction or of
protest has been published in the Official Gazette or in some other
newspaper, every newspaper shall make the correction, according to
the forms described in the foregoing article, in its second or third
issue after the receipt of the said newspaper, even if the party
affected or any party concerned in the matter has not demanded it.
The charge of advertisement can not be demanded therefor.
Art. XV. Whenever a newspaper has had a
judgment pronounced against it on account of some matter published
in one or the other of its issues it shall publish the sentence of
the court in full in its next issue.
Art. XVI. No matter connected with the
preliminary investigation of crimes or delicts shall be published
before the public trial thereof has occurred.
No matters relating to a law case tried with closed doors shall be
published.
Art. XVII. No article perversely
vindicating a criminal shall be published.
No writing, the object of which is to defend or sympathize with a
person or persons accused of a crime, or with an offender or
offenders against criminal laws, shall be published.
Art. XVIII. No official document which has
not been made public, no memorial, representation, or petition shall
be published, either in full or in an abridged form, without
permission of the competent Government office.
No deliberation in a Government office and no deliberation in a
public assembly conducted with closed doors in compliance with the
law shall be published either in full or in an abridged form.
Art. XIX. When the minister of state for
home affairs recognizes that a newspaper is prejudicial to public
peace and order, or is detrimental to morals, he may either prohibit
or suspend the publication of the said newspaper.
Art. XX. When the publication of a
newspaper has been either prohibited or suspended, the minister of
state for home affairs may prohibit the sale and distribution of the
said newspaper; he may also seize it.
Art. XXI. When a newspaper published in a
foreign country is deemed to be prejudicial to public peace and
order or detrimental to morals, the minister of state for home
affairs may prohibit the sale and distribution of the said newspaper
within the territories of this Empire; he may also seize it.
Art. XXII. The minister of state for war or
the minister of state for the navy may issue a special order
prohibiting the publication of matters relating to the movements of
troops or of war vessels or to military or naval secrets or
movements.
Art. XXIII. When a public prosecution has
been instituted against a newspaper for a statement made therein,
the public prosecutor may temporarily seize the said newspaper.
The judge may, according to the nature of the offense, confiscate the
seized copies of the said newspaper.
Art. XXIV. Whenever a suit has been
instituted against a newspaper for a statement made therein, and the
plaintiff has proved that the avowed editor of the said newspaper
has not in fact the principal charge of the editorial departments,
but that there is besides him a chief editor, the judge shall hold
both the avowed editor of the said newspaper and the real chief
editor equally responsible for the statement.
Art. XXV. Whenever a suit for libel has
been brought against a newspaper for a statement made therein, and
the court recognizes that the statement in question has been made
with no malicious intention to injure the person concerned, but for
the sake of the public interest, the court may permit the defendant
to prove the fact, except when the statement relates to personal
matters. When the proof has been established, the newspaper shall be
cleared of the charge of libel. The same shall also apply when a
newspaper shall have been sued for damages.
Art. XXVI. Whenever a newspaper does not
pay the full amount of the expenses and of the fine it has been
condemned to, or does not pay the damages pronounced against it,
within a week after the conclusion of the case, the security it has
deposited shall be utilized for the purpose; and when such security
is insufficient, the deficiency shall be exacted according to the
provisions mentioned in the criminal code for the collection of the
expenses of justice and of civil amends.
[Page 1068]
In case the security has been utilized for the expenses of the trial,
for the damages or for the fine imposed, the publisher shall make up
the deficiency within a week from the receipt of notice to that
effect from the local government authorities (from the metropolitan
police office, in Tokyo). Should there be failure to pay the full
amount due, the chief of the metropolitan police office or the
governor of the locality shall stop the publication of the newspaper
in question until the said full amount due shall have been paid.
Art. XXVII. When the notice mentioned in
Articles I, III, and IV has not been sent in, or when the provisions
of Articles VI, VII, XI (first clause), and XII have been violated,
or when a newspaper for which security is required has been
published without the deposit of the security, the publisher shall
be liable to a fine of not less than 5 yen
and not more than 100 yen. Any one convicted
of the offence of the assumption of a false signature or title shall
be liable to the same punishment as the publisher.
When truth is withheld in sending in the notices mentioned in
Articles I, III, and IV, the publisher shall be liable to a minor
imprisonment of not less than one month and of not more than six
months, or to a fine of not less than 5 yen
and not more than 100 yen.
When a newspaper belonging to the category mentioned in the last
clause of Article VIII publishes matters that ought properly to be
contained in a newspaper for which security is required, the editor
shall be liable to the same punishment as is set forth in the
preceding clause.
Art. XXVIII. In case of the violation of
Articles XIII, XIV, and XV, the editor shall be liable to a fine of
not less than 5 yen and of not more than 100
yen.
Art. XXIX. In case of the violation of
Articles XVI, XVII, and XVIII, the editor shall be liable to a minor
imprisonment of not less than one month and of not more than six
months, or to a fine of not less than 20 yen
and of not more than 200 yen.
Art. XXX. Any person who sells or
distributes a newspaper in violation of Article XXI shall be liable
to the same punishment as is set forth in the preceding article.
Art. XXXI. In case of the violation of
Article XXII, the publisher and editor shall be liable to a minor
imprisonment of not less than one month and of not more than two
years, or to a fine of not less than 20 yen
and not more than 300 yen.
Art. XXXII. When in a newspaper an article
has been published the object of which is to undermine the existing
system of government or to disturb the constitutional laws of the
Empire, the publisher, editor, and printer of the newspaper shall be
liable to a minor imprisonment of not less than two months and of
not more than two years, with a tine of not less than 50 yen and of not more than 300 yen.
In case of the violation of this article, the apparatus used for the
purpose shall be confiscated.
Art. XXXIII. When a newspaper of obscene
character has been published, the publisher and editor thereof shall
be liable to a minor imprisonment of not less than one month and of
not more than six months, or to a fine of not less than 20 yen and of not more than 200 yen.
Art. XXXIV. In the case mentioned in
Article XIII the offence connected with personalities shall be
brought to a settlement by the institution of a suit by the injured
party.
Art. XXXV. The provisions mentioned in the
criminal code for the mitigation o: penalties on account of
voluntary confession, for the aggravation of penalties on account of
repetition of offence, and for the concurrence of several
infractions committee by the same person, shall not be applied in
cases of the violation of any of the provisions of the present
regulations.
Art. XXXVI. The term of prescription for
the institution of public prosecution in connection with the present
regulations shall be six months.
Art. XXXVII. The present regulations shall
also apply to such magazines published periodically as do not come
within the scope of the publication regulations.