论东京都特别区的宪法地位

On the Consititution Status of the Tokyo Metropolitan Special Districts

日本东京都下辖的23个特别区自《日本国宪法》实施以来经历了一场漫长的“身份认同”危机。1952年《地方自治法》修改后将原来的区长公选制废除,转设区议会选任制,而1957年的涩谷区长选举行受贿事件正是在这一制度转变背景下应运而生的、关涉宪法上“地方公共团体”之认定的突发情况。东京地方裁判所与最高裁判所的态度南辕北辙,前者认可特别区的宪法地位,而后者则否认之并创造性地提出了“共同体意识”与“基本性权能”两项判定标准,还呼应了中央政府官方热衷提倡的将地方自治完全委派给立法政策的“消极说”。最高裁判所的两项标准值得商榷,其后的发展走势也证明了标准的瑕疵性与判决射程的局限性。日本大都市地方自治的发展历程与经验在东京都特别区这一问题上体现得淋漓尽致。

The 23“special districts”under the jurisdiction of Tokyo,Japan,have experienced a long crisis of“identity”since the implementation of The Japanese Constitution.After the amendment of The Local Autonomy Act in 1952,the former system of public election of district heads was abolished and the sys-tem of district assembly election was created.The bribery case of Shibuya district head election in the year of 1957 was a sudden situation that arose under the background of this system change,which was related to the recognition of“local public organizations”in the Constitution.The attitude of the Tokyo District Court and the Supreme Court is completely different.The former recognizes the constitutional status of the“special district”,while the latter denies it and creatively proposes two criteria of“community consciousness”and“basic power”.It also echoes the“negative theory”advocated by the central government to fully delegate local autonomy to legislative policies..The two standards of the Supreme Court are open to deliberation,and the subsequent development trend also proves the defects of the standards and the limitation of the range of judgment.The development process and experience of metropolitan local autonomy in Japan are vividly reflected in the issue of Tokyo metropolitan special districts.