Japan's Supreme Court upholds age-based criteria for disability pensions

From The Yomiuri Shimbun in Japan:

The Supreme Court on Oct. 10 dismissed two plaintiffs' appeals demanding the director of the Social Insurance Agency overturn the agency's decision to deny them disability pensions.

The two men, one, 48, from Ome, western Tokyo, and the other, 40, from Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, were both diagnosed with schizophrenia when they were in their 20s.

Their appeal claimed it was illegal for the government to refuse to provide them with basic disability benefits based on the ruling that people who do not receive treatment for a disease before they turn 20 years old do not qualify for the pension.

However, presiding Justice Yuki Furuta dismissed the appeal, saying, "[They] don't meet the requirements to receive [pensions]."

The ruling by the No. 2 Petty Bench finalized the two cases on the day.

The National Pension Law stipulates that a person is entitled to the basic pension for the disabled if he or she first receives medical treatment for a certain condition before turning 20 years old, even if he or she is not registered for the national pension system.

The two men first received psychiatric treatment when they were 20 and 21 years old and were diagnosed as having schizophrenia. They were, therefore, not permitted to receive the basic pension for the disabled.

In the suits, they insisted that they had developed their conditions before turning 20 and that it was illogical for the government to determine whether a person is entitled to a pension based on when they first visited a hospital for treatment.

"The National Pension Law recognizes the day of the first [hospital] visit as the benchmark because it serves to ensure objectivity in deciding whether to provide the pension and to make the decision fairly. Therefore, the plaintiffs' interpretation [of the law] can't be adopted," said the ruling, which reflected the opinions of three justices.

Justice Isao Imai dissented.

"The interpretation of the requirements stipulated in the National Pension Law should be made more flexible, thereby making the standard whether to provide a pension based on the timing of the initial onset of a disease," Imai said.

The two cases were separately handled at the Tokyo District Court and the Tokyo High Court. The district court ruled the government should accept the demand and withdraw its decision not to provide the pension. At the high court, one plaintiff lost and the other won.