Basic Act on Disaster Management

A corporation, or an organization specified by Disaster Management Agency Order as equivalent thereto, that carries out work falling under any of the following items, being cooperation in the support of disaster victims provided by the national government and local governments (hereinafter referred to as "cooperative work in support of disaster victims") (hereinafter referred to in this Article as an "organization cooperating in support of disaster victims"), may receive registration from the Prime Minister:

operation of shelters (meaning facilities for having residents, persons staying in the area, and other persons who have evacuated (hereinafter referred to as "residents, etc.") stay for the period necessary for evacuation, or for temporarily accommodating disaster victims, including affected residents who have difficulty securing a place to reside by themselves (hereinafter referred to as "affected residents"); the same applies hereinafter);

provision of food through soup kitchens or other means, or supply of drinking water;

provision or lending of clothing, bedding, and other daily necessities;

emergency repair of damaged houses, or removal of earth and sand and other obstacles caused by a disaster;

response to consultations from disaster victims, or provision of information or advice to disaster victims;

liaison and coordination relating to the implementation of the acceptance of volunteers;

beyond what is provided for in each of the preceding items, work of cooperation necessary to provide support for disaster victims.

An organization cooperating in support of disaster victims that intends to receive the registration under the preceding paragraph (hereinafter referred to as "registration") must, as provided by Disaster Management Agency Order, apply to the Prime Minister.

An organization cooperating in support of disaster victims that falls under any of the following items may not receive registration:

one whose registration has been rescinded pursuant to the provisions of Article 33-9, and for which two years have not elapsed from the date of the rescission;

one with an officer (meaning a member who executes operations, a director, an executive officer, or a person equivalent thereto, and including a consultant, advisor, or any other person, regardless of the title, found to have control over a corporation equal to or greater than that of a member who executes operations, a director, an executive officer, or a person equivalent thereto, and, in the case of an association that is not a corporation and has a designated representative or manager, that representative or manager; the same applies in Articles 33-6 and 90-6) who falls under any of the following:

a person who has been sentenced to imprisonment or a heavier punishment, or who has committed an offense prescribed in this Act and been sentenced to a fine or a heavier punishment, and for whom two years have not elapsed from the date on which the execution of the sentence was completed or ceased to be subject to execution;

a person for whom there are reasonable grounds to find a likelihood of committing, collectively or habitually, violent unlawful acts or other unlawful acts constituting an offense specified by Disaster Management Agency Order;

an organized crime group member prescribed in Article 2, item (vi) of the Act on Prevention of Unjust Acts by Organized Crime Group Members (Act No. 77 of 1991), or a person for whom five years have not elapsed from the date on which the person ceased to be an organized crime group member prescribed in that item;

an alcohol, narcotics, marijuana, opium, or stimulants addict;

a person specified by Disaster Management Agency Order as unable to properly carry out cooperative work in support of disaster victims due to a mental or physical impairment.

The Prime Minister must grant registration if an organization cooperating in support of disaster victims that has filed the application under paragraph (2) conforms to all of the following requirements:

the organization has equipment and other supplies necessary for the cooperative work in support of disaster victims that it intends to conduct, and at least two of the persons engaged in that cooperative work in support of disaster victims are persons specified by Disaster Management Agency Order as having professional knowledge and skills concerning that cooperative work in support of disaster victims;

the following measures for properly conducting cooperative work in support of disaster victims have been taken:

an administrator for properly conducting cooperative work in support of disaster victims has been appointed;

a written statement of work procedures and other documents concerning ensuring the proper implementation of cooperative work in support of disaster victims have been prepared; and

the organization has a considerable record of the cooperative work in support of disaster victims that it intends to conduct.

Registration is to be made by entering or recording the following matters in the register of registered organizations cooperating in support of disaster victims:

date of registration and registration number;

the name and address of the registered organization cooperating in support of disaster victims and, in the case of a corporation, the name of its representative (in the case of an organization that is not a corporation and has a designated representative or administrator, that representative or administrator);

the area in which the organization intends to conduct cooperative work in support of disaster victims; and

other matters specified by Disaster Management Agency Order, in addition to those set out in the preceding three items.

When a registered organization cooperating in support of disaster victims intends to change any of the matters set out in items (ii) through (iv) of the preceding paragraph, it must notify the Prime Minister to that effect, as provided by Disaster Management Agency Order.

When an order of cooperation has been issued to a registered organization cooperating in support of disaster victims pursuant to the provisions of Article 8, paragraph (2) of the Disaster Relief Act (Act No. 118 of 1947) by the prefectural governor, etc. (meaning the prefectural governor, etc. prescribed in Article 3 of that Act), the organization must cooperate in the work concerning relief under that Act.

A person that is not a registered organization cooperating in support of disaster victims must not, when conducting cooperative work in support of disaster victims, make any display indicating that it has received registration, or any display likely to be confused therewith.

A registered organization cooperating in support of disaster victims must conduct cooperative work in support of disaster victims by methods that conform to the requirements set out in the items of Article 33-2, paragraph (4) and to the standards specified by Disaster Management Agency Order for properly conducting cooperative work in support of disaster victims.

An officer or employee of a registered organization cooperating in support of disaster victims, or a person who has held such a position, must not divulge, without justifiable grounds, any secret that the person has come to know concerning cooperative work in support of disaster victims (excluding secrets concerning the register information prescribed in Article 90-4, paragraph (1) that were provided pursuant to the provisions of item (iv) of that paragraph).

When a registered organization cooperating in support of disaster victims has suspended or discontinued cooperative work in support of disaster victims, it must notify the Prime Minister to that effect, as provided by Disaster Management Agency Order.

When a notification to the effect that cooperative work in support of disaster victims has been discontinued has been submitted pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the registration of the registered organization cooperating in support of disaster victims concerned ceases to be effective.

If the Prime Minister finds that a registered organization cooperating in support of disaster victims is in violation of the provisions of Article 33-5, the Prime Minister may order that registered organization cooperating in support of disaster victims to take the measures necessary to improve its methods of cooperative work in support of disaster victims.

The Prime Minister may cancel registration if a registered organization cooperating in support of disaster victims falls under any of the following items:

it has come to fall under Article 33-2, paragraph (3), item (ii);

it violates the provisions of Article 33-2, paragraph (6) or Article 33-7, paragraph (1); or

it violates an order under the preceding Article.

if it has received registration by wrongful means;

if it has failed to make a report or submit materials under the following Article, or has made a false report or submitted false materials;

if, in the case where a notice under Article 8, paragraph (3) of the Disaster Relief Act (Act No. 118 of 1947) has been given, it is found not to be cooperating, without justifiable grounds, in operations relating to relief under that Act.

The Prime Minister may, to the extent necessary to ensure the appropriate operation of cooperative work in support of disaster victims, demand that a registered organization cooperating in support of disaster victims make a report or submit materials on the state of its operations.

The Prime Minister must make a public announcement to that effect by use of the Internet or other means in the following cases:

when the Prime Minister completes a registration;

when a notification is given under Article 33-2, paragraph (6);

when a notification is given under Article 33-7, paragraph (1);

when the Prime Minister revokes a registration under Article 33-9.