Page:Japan by the Japanese (1904).djvu/655

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APPENDICES
615

Imperial Household, and execution issued after the Imperial sanction has been obtained thereto.

Article L.—Civil actions brought by private individuals against members of the Imperial Family shall be decided in the Court of Appeal in Tokyo. Members of the Imperial Family shall, however, be representated by lawyers, and no personal attendance in the court shall be required of them.

Article LI.—No member of the Imperial Family can be arrested or summoned before a court of law unless the sanction of the Emperor has first been obtained thereto.

Article LII.—When a member of the Imperial Family has committed an act derogatory to his or her diginity, or when he has exhibited disloyality to the Imperial House, he shall, by way of disciplinary punishment, and by order of the Emperor, be deprived of the whole or part of the privileges belonging to him as member of the Imperial Family, or shall be suspended therefrom.

Article LIII.—When a member of the Imperial Family acts in a way tending to the squandering of his or her property, he shall be declared incapable by the Emperor, prohibited from administering his property, and a manager shall be appointed therefor.

Article LIV.—The two foregoing articles shall be sanctioned upon the advice of the Imperial Family Council.


Chapter XI.—The Imperial Family Council.

Article LV.—The Imperial Family Council shall be composed of the male members of the Imperial Family who have reached the age of majority. The Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, the President of the Privy Council, the Minister of the Imperial Household, the Minister of State for Justice, and the President of the Court of Cassation, shall be ordered to take part in the deliberations of the Council.

Article LVI.—The Emperor personally presides over the meeting of the Imperial Family Council, or directs one of the Imperial Family to do so.


Chapter XII.—Supplementary Rules.

Article LVII.—Those of the present members of the Imperial Family of the fifth generation and downwards, who have already been invested with the title of Imperial Prince, shall retain the same as heretofore.

Article LVIII.—The order of succession to the Imperial Throne shall in every case relate to the descendants of the absolute lineage. There shall be no admission to this line of succession to anyone, as a consequence of his now being an adopted Imperial son, Koyushi, or heir to princely house.