The issue of false charges once again reared its ugly head in Japan's criminal justice system last year. The cases revealed that inappropriate investigation methods by the police and the prosecution are still in use.
The most effective way to reduce the chance of false charges being levied would be to electronically record the entire interrogation process and require that the prosecution disclose all evidence in their possession to defense lawyers and the court.
These two steps alone would solve most problems related to false charges. To overcome resistance to such a change, the Diet should revise the Criminal Procedure Law to make the police and the prosecution disclose all evidence they possess. A legal provision should be introduced either to punish public prosecutors who fail to disclose all their evidence to defense lawyers and the court, or to deprive them of their license to work in the prosecution. The government also must require that interrogations be recorded in their entirety.