Article 1The purpose of this Act is to promote the objective and rigorous implementation of policy evaluations and to reflect the results of these evaluations in the planning and development of policy, and to make information on the evaluation of policy public by providing for basic matters regarding the evaluation of policy by administrative organs, with a view to promoting effective and efficient administration and ensuring that the government's responsibility to remain accountable to the people for its activities is being properly discharged.

Article 2(1)The term "administrative organ" as used in this Act means the following organs:

(2)The term "policy" as used in this Act means the policies, measures, and other things similar to these which concern a set of administrative actions that an administrative organ plans and formulates in order to realize a certain objective within the scope of its duties or the functions under its jurisdiction.

Article 3(1)An administrative organ must assess the effects of policy under its jurisdiction (meaning the effects that a set of administrative actions it has carried out or seeks to carry out has or is expected to have on the lives of the people, on society, and on the economy; the same applies hereinafter) at the appropriate time, and on the basis of that assessment, make its own evaluation from the standpoint of necessity, efficiency, or effectiveness, or from any other standpoint that is necessary as a function of the special characteristics of the policy in question, and appropriately reflect the results of its evaluation in the planning and development of its policy.

(2)An evaluation based on the provisions of the preceding paragraph (hereinafter referred to as a "policy evaluation") must be conducted in accordance with the following in order to ensure its objective and rigorous implementation:

Article 4In addition to handling the results of policy evaluations as prescribed in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, the government is to endeavor to appropriately utilize the results of policy evaluations in preparing budgets and planning and formulating policies that have bearing on the jurisdiction of two or more administrative organs and that it is necessary to help promote comprehensively.

Article 5(1)The government must establish Basic Guidelines for Implementing Policy Evaluations (hereinafter referred to as "Basic Guidelines") in order to help systematically and steadily promote the implementation of policy evaluations.

(2)The Basic Guidelines are to establish the guiding principles for the basic plans referred to in paragraph (1) of the following Article, covering the following:

(3)In addition to what is set forth in the preceding paragraph, in the Basic Guidelines, the government is to provide for matters relevant to measures that it has implemented or seeks to implement pursuant to the provisions of Article 20 through Article 22, and for other measures that are necessary for the smooth and steady implementation of policy evaluations.

(4)The Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications must prepare a draft of the Basic Guidelines after hearing the opinions of a council (meaning an organ provided for in Article 8 of the National Government Organization Act and to be determined by Cabinet Order), and request a Cabinet decision affirming it.

(5)When a Cabinet decision under the preceding paragraph is made, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications must make the Basic Guidelines public without delay.

(6)The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs apply mutatis mutandis to the revision of the Basic Guidelines.

Article 6(1)At intervals of at least three and no more than five years, the head of an administrative organ (or the commission or authority itself, in the case of the Fair Trade Commission, National Public Safety Commission, Personal Information Protection Commission, Casino Regulatory Commission, Environmental Dispute Coordination Commission, or Nuclear Regulation Authority; the same applies hereinafter) must establish a basic plan for policy evaluations (hereinafter referred to as a "basic plan") based on the Basic Guidelines that covers policies under the jurisdiction of that administrative organ.

(2)In a basic plan, the head of the administrative organ is to establish the following:

(3)The head of an administrative organ is to establish policies that are connected with the principal organizational objectives that the organ is to realize in response to social, economic, and other circumstances in order to achieve its organizational missions, as the policies referred to in item (vi) of the preceding paragraph.

(4)When the head of an administrative organ has established a basic plan, they must notify the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications of the plan and make it public without delay.

(5)The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs apply mutatis mutandis to the revision of the basic plan.

Article 7(1)Each year, the head of an administrative organ must establish a plan for implementing ex-post evaluations (hereinafter referred to as "implementation plan").

(2)In an implementation plan, the head of the administrative organ must establish the term of the plan, the following policies, and the specific means of conducting an ex-post evaluation for each of those policies:

(3)When the head of an administrative organ has established an implementation plan or revised it, they must notify the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications of the plan and make it public without delay.

Article 8An administrative organ must conduct ex-post evaluations based on the basic plan and the implementation plan.

Article 9An administrative organ must conduct ex-ante evaluations in connection with affairs under its jurisdiction before seeking to establish either a policy aimed at implementing an individual research and development project, public works, or official development assistance, or any other such policy, if it is one that Cabinet Order prescribes as meeting the following requirements:

Article 10(1)When the head of an administrative organ has conducted a policy evaluation, they must prepare a report including the following:

(2)When the head of an administrative organ has prepared an evaluation report pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, they must promptly send it to the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications and make the report and a summary of it public.

Article 11At least once a year, the head of an administrative organ must notify the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications of how the results of policy evaluations have been reflected in policies at the administrative organ, as well as making this information public.

Article 12(1)The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is to conduct evaluations to ensure cohesiveness for each of the policies that are common to two or more administrative organs and that are found to need evaluating from the perspective of ensuring their government-wide cohesiveness; and is to conduct evaluations to ensure comprehensiveness for policies that have a bearing on the jurisdiction of two or more administrative organs and that are found to need evaluating from the perspective of helping to promote them comprehensively.

(2)The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is to conduct an evaluation of an administrative agency's policy in order to guarantee the objective and rigorous implementation of policy evaluations if the administrative organ needs to redo a policy evaluation or needs to conduct a policy evaluation in order to properly respond to changes in societal or economic conditions but the Ministry finds that, in light of the status of an administrative organ's implementation of policy evaluations, its implementation of that policy evaluation cannot be ensured; or if the Ministry receives a request from an administrative agency and finds that it is necessary to conduct an evaluation together with that administrative organ.

(3)In an evaluation under the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is to assess the effects of the policy subject to the evaluation, and with this as a foundation, is to conduct the evaluation from the standpoint of necessity, efficiency, or effectiveness, or from any other standpoint that is necessary as a function of the special characteristics of the policy in question.

Article 13(1)Each fiscal year, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications must establish a plan for evaluations under the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) of the preceding Article in the three-year period beginning in that fiscal year.

(2)The Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications must establish the following in the plan referred to in the preceding paragraph:

(3)When the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications has established the plan referred to in paragraph (1) or revised it, the Minister must make it public without delay.

Article 14The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications must implement evaluations under the provisions of Article 12, paragraphs (1) and (2) in accordance with the plan referred to in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article.

Article 15(1)The Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications may ask the head of an administrative organ to submit materials and provide explanations, and may make an on-the-spot review of the operations of an administrative organ, to the extent necessary for conducting an evaluation under the provisions of Article 12, paragraphs (1) and (2).

(2)The Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications may make a documentary review or on-the-spot review of the following operations in connection with an evaluation under the provisions of Article 12, paragraphs (1) and (2). In such a case, the person subject to the review must not refuse to undergo it:

(3)The Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications may make a documentary review or on-the-spot review of the operations of a local public entity which constitute the Item I statutory entrusted functions provided for in Article 2, paragraph (9), item (i) of the Local Autonomy Act (Act No. 67 of 1947) (limited to those which need to be assessed as an integral part of the review of the operations of an administrative organ, and excluding those set forth in item (iv) of the preceding paragraph), within the minimum scope of what is necessary for achieving the objectives of the evaluation under the provisions of Article 12, paragraphs (1) and (2). Before doing so, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications is to ask the local public entity concerned for its opinions.

(4)The Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications may ask a public or private organization or any other such relevant person for cooperation in connection with the submission of the necessary materials, as is necessary for implementing an evaluation under the provisions of Article 12, paragraphs (1) and (2).

Article 16(1)The Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications must prepare an evaluation report that includes the particulars set forth in each of the items in Article 10, paragraph (1) when the Minister has conducted an evaluation under the provisions of Article 12, paragraphs (1) and (2).

(2)When the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications has prepared an evaluation report pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Minister must promptly send the report to heads of related administrative organs with the necessary opinions attached, and make the report, its summary and the opinions public.

Article 17(1)The Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications must recommend that the head of a related administrative organ take the necessary measures to reflect the results of the relevant evaluation in the relevant policy if the Minister finds this to be necessary as a result of the evaluation under the provisions of Article 12, paragraphs (1) and (2); and must also make those recommendations public.

(2)If the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications has made a recommendation under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Minister may ask the head of the relevant administrative organ to report on measures taken based on the recommendation.

(3)If the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications finds it to be particularly necessary to do so in order for the results of an evaluation under the provisions of Article 12, paragraphs (1) and (2) to be reflected in the policy in question, the Minister is to offer an opinion to the Prime Minister expressing that the measures under the provisions of Article 6 of the Cabinet Act (Act No. 5 of 1947) should be taken to reflect the results of that evaluation in the policy.

Article 18When the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications conducts an evaluation under the provisions of Article 12, paragraphs (1) and (2), the Minister must endeavor to ensure coordination with the evaluation and monitoring under the provisions of Article 4, paragraph (1), item (ⅺ) of the Act for Establishment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Article 19Each year, the government must prepare a report on the status of implementation for policy evaluations and for evaluations under the provisions of Article 12, paragraphs (1) and (2) (hereinafter individually referred to as a "policy evaluation or evaluation by the Ministry") and on how the results of these evaluations have been reflected in the policies, and must submit the report to the Diet and make it public.

Article 20The government must facilitate studies, research, and development relevant to the methods of assessing the effects of policy and into things such as the methods used for policy evaluations and evaluations by the Ministry, and must implement the necessary training and take other such measures to secure the human resources that constitute personnel engaged in policy evaluations and evaluations by the Ministry and to enhance their capabilities.

Article 21The Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications is to take the necessary measures to facilitate the use of the information needed to implement policy evaluations and evaluations by the Ministry which takes place among administrative organs, in order to contribute to the efficient and smooth implementation of policy evaluations and evaluations by the Ministry.

Article 22The Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications is to take the necessary measures to provide information on the location of the results of policy evaluations and other such information on policy evaluations and evaluations by the Ministry, in order to help make things more convenient for persons seeking to obtain it.