the grand bench

やっと，やっと，選挙格差が「違憲状態である」ことを最高裁が認めました。関係者のご尽力に敬意を表します。the grand bench of the top courtは「最高裁判所大法廷」のことです。なお，正式名称はGrand Bench of the Supreme Courtです。（GP）

Supreme Court delivers 'ultimatum' to Diet to act over vote disparity

The Supreme Court's decision that ruled the fivefold disparity in the value of votes in the 2010 House of Councillors election was "in a state of unconstitutionality" serves as an "ultimatum" delivered to the Diet, which has long ignored the vote-value disparity issue in both chambers.

In a major turnaround, the grand bench of the top court ruled on Oct. 17 that the fivefold disparity -- which had heretofore been deemed as the "pass line" for constitutionality in upper house elections -- was "in a state of unconstitutionality" in the 2010 election, but withheld from declaring the election results invalid.

The stricter ruling demonstrates the top court's strong intention to ensure equal value of voting rights in the face of the so-called "twisted Diet," in which the court deemed the opposition-controlled upper house is as equally powerful as the lower house. The ruling also urges the Diet to drastically reform the electoral system as early as possible, pointing to the limit of allocating electoral districts by prefectures.

While the ruling and opposition parties have jointly submitted to the Diet a bill to add two more constituency seats each to Kanagawa and Osaka prefectures in the upper house while cutting two seats each in Fukushima and Gifu prefectures, its passage into law would still fall short of the top court's demand.

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20121018p2a00m0na006000c.html