Special Permanent Residents and Drug Cases: What Article 22 of the Special Act Protects, and What It Does Not

When a special permanent resident (特別永住者) comes to us about a drug case, there is one thing we want to establish at the outset: the deportation provisions that apply to foreign nationals generally do not apply to special permanent residents in the same form. Families often arrive after sleepless nights, having been told by people around them that anyone with foreign nationality gets deported. The legal architecture is different. That said, what is protected is the deportation side of things; criminal responsibility is not softened. This article separates what is protected from what is not, following the provisions themselves.

Key points

• The grounds on which a special permanent resident may be deported (退去強制) are not those in Article 24 of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (入管法) but a limited list in Article 22 of the Special Act on Immigration Control (入管特例法22条).
• That article lists four categories: offences of insurrection and of foreign aggression; offences relating to foreign relations; certain offences against foreign heads of state, diplomatic missions and their premises; and a sentence of life imprisonment, or imprisonment exceeding seven years to be served, where the Minister of Justice finds that Japan's vital interests have been harmed.
• Drug offences are not in that exhaustive list. A special permanent resident is therefore not deported on the basis of a drug case.
• Criminal responsibility, on the other hand, arises exactly as it does for anyone else, and the effects on employment, professional licences and family need separate thought.
• If someone in the family holds an ordinary status of residence (在留資格), Article 24, item 4, sub-item (chi) (入管法24条4号チ) applies to that person, so the position has to be checked household by household.

Can a special permanent resident be deported over a drug case?

The short answer is no: a drug case is not a basis on which a special permanent resident is deported. The authority for this is Article 22 of the Special Act on Immigration Control of, Inter Alia, Those Who Have Lost Japanese Nationality Pursuant to the Treaty of Peace with Japan, commonly called the Special Act.

For foreign nationals generally, the grounds for deportation are set out broadly across the items of Article 24 of the immigration statute, and sub-item (chi) of item 4 covers convictions for violating drug legislation. For special permanent residents, however, Article 24 does not apply in that way. Deportation is confined to the limited grounds set out in Article 22 of the Special Act.

The difference reflects a legislative judgment, made against a particular history, to give strong protection to the foundations of special permanent residents' lives. The limitation in the text is clear, and on this point there is no need for anxiety.

The four categories in Article 22 of the Special Act

Broadly, the article lists the four categories below. Each is confined either to a highly exceptional situation touching the existence of the state or its foreign relations, or to a case where an extremely heavy sentence has been imposed and the Minister of Justice has additionally made a finding.

• Being sentenced to imprisonment or a heavier punishment for offences of insurrection or offences of foreign aggression
• Being sentenced to imprisonment or a heavier punishment for offences relating to foreign relations
• Being sentenced to imprisonment or a heavier punishment for certain offences against a foreign head of state or diplomatic envoy, or against their premises, where a vital diplomatic interest is found to have been harmed
• Being sentenced to life imprisonment, or to imprisonment exceeding seven years to be served, where the Minister of Justice finds that Japan's vital interests have been harmed

What it means that drugs are absent from the list

None of those four categories includes a violation of the Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act, the Stimulants Control Act, the Act on Regulation of Cultivation of Cannabis Plants, the Opium Act or the Narcotics Special Provisions Act. The contrast with Article 24(4)(chi), which makes a conviction for violating drug legislation a ground for deportation, could hardly be sharper.

And sub-item (chi) has extremely wide reach, catching fines and suspended sentences alike. For a person holding an ordinary status of residence, the difference is decisive. On the same facts and the same judgment, the consequences for residence diverge entirely depending on whether the person is a special permanent resident.

For completeness, the fourth category above requires not only a sentence of life imprisonment or of imprisonment exceeding seven years to be served, but also a finding by the Minister of Justice. A drug case reaching that level of sentence is a considerable distance from the ordinary run of matters. If you have a concern about your own case, the safest course is to check it specifically against the text.

So is there nothing at all to worry about?

Having no exposure to deportation is one thing; the seriousness of the case itself is another. Criminal responsibility arises no differently than for anyone else. Possession, transfer and receipt under the Stimulants Control Act carry imprisonment for up to ten years, and use likewise carries up to ten years. For cannabis, possession, transfer and receipt under Article 66(1) of the Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act carry imprisonment for up to seven years, and use or receiving administration under Article 66-2(1) of the same Act, which came into force on 12 December 2024, also carries up to seven years. These are not light statutory penalties. Imprisonment here is kōkinkei, the unified custodial sentence introduced in June 2025.

Prolonged detention will also have consequences at work or in your studies, and if you hold a professional licence or qualification, that needs separate consideration. It is best to look ahead early to the family's day-to-day life and to the children's schooling as well.

There is one further point that is easily missed: family members who hold an ordinary status of residence. Where a spouse resides under the spouse of a Japanese national status or as a permanent resident, and that person is involved in the case, Article 24(4)(chi) applies to them, not Article 22 of the Special Act. Different provisions applying to different members of one household is a real possibility.

Even without deportation risk, aiming at non-prosecution is worthwhile

In drug cases involving foreign nationals, our approach places the highest priority on obtaining a non-prosecution decision (不起訴処分) before charges are filed. That follows from the way Article 24(4)(chi) turns solely on the existence of a conviction, but the value of the approach does not disappear in a special permanent resident's case.

Not being convicted means no criminal record. The reach of that is wide and lasting: employment, professional qualifications, the family's future, procedures connected with travel abroad. If the absence of deportation risk leads to a strategy aimed from the start at securing a suspended sentence at trial, points that could have been contested go uncontested, and the disposition hardens around them.

The pre-charge period is short. Within it, we examine whether the elements of the offence are made out, whether the requisite intent existed, and whether the evidence, including any stop-and-question and search of belongings, was lawfully gathered, and we assemble the material the prosecutor needs in order to decide. The earlier that work begins, the wider the range of options stays open.

How our office works, and matters we have handled

At Funado International Law Office (Fuse Building Main Wing 3F, 3-4-10 Takada, Toshima-ku, Tokyo), attorney Daisuke Matsumura handles every stage personally, from the first detention visit through to the close of trial. The work is not passed to clerks or junior lawyers. For Chinese, a dedicated interpreter experienced in cases involving foreign nationals is on staff, so that alongside the interpreter appointed by the investigating authorities you have an interpreter working for you throughout the criminal process. For languages other than Chinese, we arrange an interpreter to suit the case. Residence procedures required after the criminal process are handled together with an affiliated administrative scrivener.

Our office has experience of international criminal matters, of cases tried before lay judge panels, and of serious cases reported worldwide. In matters that run for a long time, and in matters that attract public attention, we place particular value on keeping the strategy consistent throughout.

In trial work, we obtained an acquittal for a client prosecuted under the Stimulants Control Act for possession for the purpose of profit, through exhaustive analysis of the evidence and through questioning of the defendant and full cross-examination. Before charge, a client re-arrested several times as a collector in a specialised fraud case obtained non-prosecution decisions on every count, after sustained work on the interrogations and formal objections to improper questioning.

The status of special permanent resident carries clear protection in law when it comes to deportation. We would encourage you to confirm that first, and then to turn calmly to the question of how to meet the criminal process itself. If a member of your family holds an ordinary status of residence, it is important to check that person's position separately. Please note that this article is general commentary only; for your own situation, speak to a lawyer directly. The past matters described here turned on their own particular facts, and they are not a guarantee of a similar outcome.

This article reflects the law as at August 2026.

About the author

Daisuke Matsumura, Attorney at Law
Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association (registration no. 59077, admitted 2019)
Funado International Law Office (Fuse Building Main Wing 3F, 3-4-10 Takada, Toshima-ku, Tokyo)
Practice focused on criminal defence for foreign nationals and immigration proceedings.
Results include an acquittal in a Stimulants Control Act case (possession for the purpose of profit), non-prosecution in organised fraud cases, and special permission to stay in cases regarded as difficult.

Funado International Law Office
Website: https://matsumura-lawoffice.jp/
WeChat ID: matsumura1119