Provisional Translation
| OTO No. | 466 | Classification | MOJ-5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of Acceptance | December 16, 1991 | Ministry/Agency Receiving Complaint | Economic Planning Agency |
| Responsible Ministries | Ministry of Justice | Related Laws | Immigration Control and Refugee Recoginition Law |
| Complainant | Domestic firm | Exporting Countries | |
| Subject | Handling of landing permits for foreign seamen | ||
| Details of Measures | Since foreign seamen aboard ships calling at ports in Japan land nearby and move with their ships, unlike other foreign nationals entering Japan who are required to have passports, they are required only to hold a seamen's book. Further, when they apply to enter Japan, they are not required to have passports or visas; they are allowed to land after simple procedures, based on application not by the individual but by the shipping company or the ship's captain. In case a seaman obtaining a landing permit in this way fails to return to his ship and his whereabouts become unknown (runs away from the ship), the ship's captain is held accountable. When the shipping company or ship's captain make subsequent applications for landing, they are cautioned accordingly and strict standards, including the refusal to grant landing permits, are employed to examine the application in question, in order to prevent further runaways. In this complaint concerning handling of ships from which there have been runaways, the complainant argues that denying landing permits to seamen who have not run away is too severe a penalty. The Ministry of Justice questioned the complainant and attempted to verify actual conditions, and advised the complainant that cases of runaways have greatly increased and that the above measures do not routinely deny seamen landing permits. The Ministry, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is also studying how other countries handle landing permits for foreign seamen. |
||
| Classification of Processing | Cc | Directions | III |
| Remarks | |||