Jinseigata (仁政方)

Jinseigata was one of the institutions established during the early Muromachi bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun). It is presumed to have been an institution that addressed a direct appeal to a senior official without going through the normal formalities as a relief measure against a judicial decision made by Hikitsukeshu (Coadjustor of the High Court). It was composed of tonin (the director) and several bugyonin (magistrates).

It was as early as 1341 when it first appeared in historical records as a legal institution. During the term from 1373 to 1375, the proceedings which appealed not to Hikitsukeshu, but to Jinseigata for a ruling had been recorded. It is thought that it lasted for at least forty years or more at the early stage of the Muromachi bakufu. However, it seems to have been abolished after the middle of the Muromachi period because it cannot be found in the organizational chart of the bakufu thereafter.

[Original Japanese]