Opponents warn that authorities could use the legislation to limit free speech and public protests.
The government defended the "anti-conspiracy" bill as a tool to prevent terrorism, especially ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and to allow Japan to ratify the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime adopted in the year 2000.
The law, which criminalises the plotting and committing of 277 acts, amends an existing law against organised crime syndicates.
Koichi Nakano, political science professor at Tokyo's Sophia University, told CNN the new legislation "fundamentally" changed Japan's legal system.
"Both of these would require new means to control unruly citizens who object to government decisions".
The expedited pace with which the bill was passed, however, suggested Abe wanted to wrap up the Diet session as soon as possible to avoid being grilled by the opposition over allegations of favoritism involving the Okayama-based Kake Gakuen school operator run by his close friend.
"It's only three years until the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and so I'd like to ratify the treaty on organised crime as soon as possible so we can firmly cooperate with global society to prevent terrorism".
The bypass tactic allowed the ruling camp to dodge the regular legislative procedures necessary for the legislation to be enacted, with the unorthodox move effectively forcing the contentious conspiracy bill into law without having to extend the current Diet session.
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All we would have had would have been baseball bats versus a rifle. "It was just a little odd", he said. Robert Becker , director of Sanders' Iowa campaign, said staff workers could not recall Hodgkinson .
The prime minister and his Cabinet have not only questioned the veracity of the documents, but according to the Tokyo Shimbun and other newspapers, the administration is open to charging the government leaker with violating the law.
Such maneuvering is typically reserved for when the ruling party wants to pass an important bill that, despite an adequate amount of time for it to be discussed at the committee level, faces stonewalling in a committee chaired by an opposition lawmaker who wants to delay the vote.
The vote on the bill, which has divided the public, followed opposition party delaying tactics, protests and concerns raised by a United Nations expert - who called the legislation "defective" - and came days before the current session of parliament was set to end on June 18.
Recent polls show the public is divided on the issue. More than 77 per cent said further explanation was needed.
Terrorism "won't disappear because of this law", said 29-year-old demonstrator Yohei Sakano outside parliament. "But the law was abused, it persecuted communists, and then religious leaders, leaders and ordinary people", he said. Last week, the UN's special rapporteur for freedom of expression, David Kaye, said the independence of Japan's media is under threat.
Demonstrations were also held elsewhere in Japan including in Fukushima Prefecture in northeastern Japan and Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan, where rallies drew about 500 protesters each.
"The government shouldn't use all its energy on constitutional debate", Shigeru Ishiba, a senior LDP lawmaker who favours constitutional change, said.
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