Despite growing criticism of the notoriously opaque criminal justice system, a Justice Ministry panel tasked with revamping it concluded three years of work Wednesday by deciding not to back mandatory recording of all criminal interrogations, while recommending that law enforcement be given a freer hand in pursuing controversial information-gathering tactics.
The panel's conclusions appear to be at odds with its original vow to bring Japan's criminal justice system "up to date" and roll back reliance on confessions as a means of securing prosecutions.
It proposed requiring recordings in only about 3 percent of all interrogations, such as those related to serious cases that will be deliberated by lay judges, such as murder and arson.