Twenty-nine disabled people and one parent of a disabled person from eight prefectures — Tokyo, Saitama, Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Hiroshima and Fukuoka — filed lawsuits Oct. 31 with district courts in their prefectural capitals contending that a law designed to help disabled people violates the Constitution.

The Law Supporting Disabled People and Their Self-Reliance was enacted with the support of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito in October 2005 and went into effect in April 2006. Under the law, disabled people in principle must pay 10 percent of the costs of the welfare and medical benefits they receive — a departure from the earlier principle of having disabled people pay according to what they could afford.

The plaintiffs say the law violates their human rights, specifically Articles 13, 14 and 25 of the Constitution. Article 13 calls for supreme consideration of a person's right to the pursuit of happiness in legislation and other government affairs, to the extent that the right does not interfere with the public welfare. Article 14 guarantees equality under the law and prohibits discrimination, and Article 25 says "All people shall have the right to maintain the minimum standards of wholesome and cultural living." The last calls on the state to promote social welfare and security as well as public health.