|
Japan Criminal Procedure
The nation's criminal justice officials follows
specified legal
procedures in dealing with offenders. Once a suspect is
arrested by
national or prefectural police, the case is turned over to
attorneys in the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office, who
are the
government's sole agents in prosecuting lawbreakers.
Although under
the Ministry of Justice's administration, these officials
work
under Supreme Court rules and are career civil servants
who can be
removed from office only for incompetence or impropriety.
Prosecutors presented the government's case before judges
in the
Supreme Court and the four types of lower courts: high
courts,
district courts, summary courts, and family courts. Penal
and
probation officials administer programs for convicted
offenders
under the direction of public prosecutors
(see The Judicial System
, ch. 6).
After identifying a suspect, police have the authority
to
exercise some discretion in determining the next step. If,
in cases
pertaining to theft, the amount is small or already
returned, the
offense petty, the victim unwilling to press charges, the
act
accidental, or the likelihood of a repetition not great,
the police
can either drop the case or turn it over to a prosecutor.
Reflecting the belief that appropriate remedies are
sometimes best
found outside the formal criminal justice mechanisms, in
1990 over
70 percent of criminal cases were not sent to the
prosecutor.
Police also exercise wide discretion in matters
concerning
juveniles. Police are instructed by law to identify and
counsel
minors who appear likely to commit crimes, and they can
refer
juvenile offenders and nonoffenders alike to child
guidance centers
to be treated on an outpatient basis. Police can also
assign
juveniles or those considered to be harming the welfare of
juveniles to special family courts. These courts were
established
in 1949 in the belief that the adjustment of a family's
situation
is sometimes required to protect children and prevent
juvenile
delinquency. Family courts are run in closed sessions, try
juvenile
offenders under special laws, and operate extensive
probationary
guidance programs. The cases of young people between the
ages of
fourteen and twenty can, at the judgment of police, be
sent to the
public prosecutor for possible trial as adults before a
judge under
the general criminal law.
Safeguards protect the suspects' rights. Police have to
secure
warrants to search for or seize evidence. A warrant is
also
necessary for an arrest, although if the crime is very
serious or
the perpetrator likely to flee, it can be obtained
immediately
after arrest. Within forty-eight hours after placing a
suspect
under detention, the police have to present their case
before a
prosecutor, who is then required to apprise the accused of
the
charges and of the right to counsel. Within another
twenty-four
hours, the prosecutor has to go before a judge and present
a case
to obtain a detention order. Suspects can be held for ten
days
(extensions were granted in special cases), pending an
investigation and a decision whether or not to prosecute.
In the
1980s, some suspects were reported to have been mistreated
during
this detention to exact a confession.
Prosecution can be denied on the grounds of
insufficient
evidence or on the prosecutor's judgment. Under Article
248 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure, after weighing the offender's
age,
character, and environment, the circumstances and gravity
of the
crime, and the accused's rehabilitative potential, public
action
does not have to be instituted, but can be denied or
suspended and
ultimately dropped after a probationary period. Because
the
investigation and disposition of a case can occur behind
closed
doors and the identity of an accused person who is not
prosecuted
is rarely made public, an offender can successfully
reenter society
and be rehabilitated under probationary status without the
stigma
of a criminal conviction.
Institutional safeguards check the prosecutors'
discretionary
powers not to prosecute. Lay committees are established in
conjunction with branch courts to hold inquests on a
prosecutor's
decisions. These committees meet four times yearly and can
order
that a case be reinvestigated and prosecuted. Victims or
interested
parties can also appeal a decision not to prosecute.
Most offenses are tried first in district courts before
one or
three judges, depending on the severity of the case.
Defendants are
protected from self-incrimination, forced confession, and
unrestricted admission of hearsay evidence. In addition,
defendants
have the right to counsel, public trial, and
cross-examination.
Trial by jury was authorized by the 1923 Jury Law but was
suspended
in 1943. It had not been reinstated as of 1993, chiefly
owing to
defendants' distrust of jurors, who were believed to be
emotional
and easily influenced, and the generally greater public
confidence
in the competence of judges.
The judge conducts the trial and is authorized to
question
witnesses, independently call for evidence, decide guilt,
and affix
a sentence. The judge can also suspend any sentence or
place a
convicted party on probation. Should a judgment of not
guilty be
rendered, the accused is entitled to compensation by the
state
based on the number of days spent in detention.
Criminal cases from summary courts, family courts, and
district
courts can be appealed to the high courts by both the
prosecution
and the defense. Criminal appeal to the Supreme Court is
limited to
constitutional questions and a conflict of precedent
between the
Supreme Court and high courts.
The criminal code sets minimum and maximum sentences
for
offenses to allow for the varying circumstances of each
crime and
criminal. Penalties range from fines and short-term
incarceration
to compulsory labor and the death penalty. Heavier
penalties are
meted out to repeat offenders. Capital punishment consist
of death
by hanging and can be imposed on those convicted of
leading an
insurrection, inducing or aiding foreign armed aggression,
arson,
or homicide.
Data as of January 1994
|
