Should a public works project have priority over the need to revise a plan? Some Tokyo residents were not only questioning whether an administrative disposition was correct but also seeking a judgment on whether their living environment should be protected. The Tokyo High Court, however, avoided a straight answer.

In overturning a district court judgment, the high court on Thursday rejected an administrative suit filed by residents along the Odakyu line who had called for the annulment of government approval of a railway elevation project. The high court ruled that although the plaintiffs were landowners near the railway, they were not owners of the actual land to be used for the project and thus were not eligible to file the suit. In other words, the court upheld the argument of the state.

Public facilities such as railways and roads are linked to the lives of nearby residents as well as to users. Is the court right to weaken surveillance of the administrative process by narrowing the right to sue? If so, one cannot help but wonder what this judicial review was for.