Supreme Court May Reconsider Memorandum of a Religious Follower

The Supreme Court held a hearing from a woman whose mother had donated a large amount of money to a religious organization, Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as former Unification Church. The woman demanded returning the money back to her, arguing that a memorandum her mother handed over the organization for the donation was invalid. It is supposed that the hearing would mean turning down the decisions of lower courts, which dismissed the argument of the woman.

Mother of the plaintiff, who had been living in Nagano prefecture, was a follower of former Unification Church and donated about 100 million yen to the organization between 2005 and 2009. It was revealed that she spent 23 million yen for buying books, 13 million for pottery. She secretly spent 65 million yen that was her husband’s deposit in a securities firm. She also sold her fruit farm to achieve 70 million yen for the donation. She died in 2021.

 

The old lady had issued a memorandum for the organization in November 2015, which described that the donation was made with her voluntary, not coerced, will and she would never request returning the donation back. A half year after the issuance, the woman was diagnosed as suffering from Alzheimer type of dementia.

 

She and her daughter filed a lawsuit claiming 65 million yen of compensation in 2017, arguing that the memorandum was invalid and former Unification Church made illegal invitations to lead the woman donate a large amount of money. The district court and high court turned down their argument, finding the invitation had not been illegal and the memorandum valid.

 

The daughter succeeded the lawsuit. After she realized that the assassin of former prime minister Shinzo Abe had a vengeful feeling against the church, because his mother also had made a great amount of donation, the daughter made up her mind to appeal to the Supreme Court. She could not believe that her mother had written the memorandum with her own will, and leave the church alone.

 

It is required in legal process that the Supreme Court has to have a hearing when it would change the decision of a lower court. That is why the hearing held in June 10th is supposed to be a sign of the Supreme Court to change the decision of district court and high court. In the hearing, the daughter said that her mother was under strong control of the church and could not refuse the signing and stamping. The church denied illegality in making the memorandum.

 

Many followers of former unification church have the same kind of problems. The Diet passed a bill last December for new law to salvage those followers suffering from donation to the church. Illegality of the church has been spotlighted after the assassination of Abe. The Supreme Court will deliver the sentence in July 11th.

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