JELF Japan Environmental Lawyers Federation

Japan Environmental Lawyers Federation (JELF) is a non-profit organization composed of about 780 members including 530 attorneys and 50 academics in Japan. It was founded in 1996 in Tokyo and currently has its office in Nagoya and in Osaka. JELF was formerly a network of lawyers fighting against development of golf courses. During the "bubble economy" in the end of 1980s, golf courses were planned and constructed all over Japan and caused serious environmental destruction. Many citizens tried to stop those reckless developments and asked help from lawyers who were willing to work on pro-bono basis for protecting nature and wild animals. Because we did not have good legal tools like Environmental Impact Assessment Law or citizens suits, lawyers had to resort to general tort theory, or property law often unsuccessfully. Standing is also a serious problem. Therefore, together with citizens, lawyers had to develop and elaborate new tactics including national trust activities, i.e. buying land or trees in the questioned area. The national network of environmental lawyers was formed and gradually grew up to JELF. JELF does not have any strict rule about its membership. Any lawyers who agree with the basic purpose of JELF can join this organization. We do not exclude lawyers working for government or corporations. However, due to our history mentioned above, it is not an exaggeration that almost all important environmental lawsuits or disputes in Japan involve JELF's member lawyers on environment side.