TOKYO - Japan's parliament enacted a law Wednesday to establish a new National Intelligence Council to centralize information gathering in response to overseas threats, marking a first step in plans to boost capabilities that have raised concerns over civil liberties.

Establishing the council is a key aim in the governing agenda of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a security hawk who has pledged to strengthen intelligence and counterespionage capabilities as part of a response to what her government calls the most complex security environment since the end of World War II.

The move, made possible by support from some opposition parties in the House of Councillors, where the governing coalition lacks a majority, marks a significant first step in the government's plans to expand Japan's counterespionage architecture through further legislation.

Takaichi has said a system for registering agents of foreign governments engaged in lobbying activities should be considered, and that Japan needs to establish its own foreign intelligence agency.

The new law lacks provisions for parliament to monitor intelligence activities, leaving questions regarding democratic oversight unresolved.

Devised in response to national security concerns, including cyberattacks and election interference via social media disinformation, the council will be chaired by the prime minister and composed of nine other Cabinet members, including the chief Cabinet secretary and foreign minister.

It will centralize a fragmented intelligence apparatus, with the law stating the council's secretariat, the National Intelligence Bureau, will comprehensively coordinate intelligence gathered by the National Police Agency, the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry and other organizations, with the authority to ask them to share information.

The government could establish the council and bureau as early as July and set up an expert panel to discuss counterespionage legislation. It is expected to formulate policy with an eye to submitting a bill during the regular parliamentary session in 2027.

Controls on lobbying on behalf of a foreign power already in place in Britain and the United States, for example, require such actors, including their own citizens, to disclose their activities and funding. Failure to report can result in fines or imprisonment.

Support for the legislation in the upper house on Wednesday came from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its junior partner the Japan Innovation Party, as well as opposition parties including the Democratic Party for the People, Komeito and Sanseito.

Speaking to reporters, JIP co-leader Fumitake Fujita said the law is "the first and most significant legislation to strengthen intelligence functions" agreed in the coalition deal reached last October.

Among the parties opposing the bill in the upper house over concerns about rights infringements and politicized intelligence activity was the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. Its stance differed from that of its ally, the Centrist Reform Alliance, which backed the bill in the House of Representatives.

Addressing the upper house ahead of the vote, CDPJ lawmaker Makoto Oniki said that "if intelligence agencies cannot be properly controlled and are left to go unchecked, they risk severe and unjust infringements on the rights of the public."

In response to concerns over civil liberties, Takaichi told an upper house committee Tuesday the government plans to draw up a medium- to long-term policy outline for intelligence activities, adding she intends to "discuss specific measures to avoid unnecessarily infringing on personal information and privacy."