Editorial May 30, 2012

Looking at the lay judge system

Three years have passed since the lay judge system was introduced to bring citizens’ perspective into criminal trials. According to the Supreme Court, 20,817 had people served as lay judges and 7,257 as backup lay judges by the end March. More than 95 percent ...

Editorial May 12, 2012

Questionable appeal in Ozawa case

On Wednesday three lawyers serving as prosecutors appealed a lower court ruling that had acquitted former Democratic Party of Japan chief Ichiro Ozawa of violating the Political Funds Control Law to the Tokyo High Court. On April 26, the Tokyo District Court found him ...

Editorial Apr 28, 2012

Prosecutors' changing attitude

The Supreme Public Prosecutors Office on April 5 announced that public prosecutors electronically recorded the entire interrogation process in about 40 percent of 69 suspects in cases unearthed by the prosecutors. The electronic recording of the interrogation of mentally disabled suspects and suspects in ...

Editorial Nov 28, 2010

Death sentence for a minor

Six lay judges and three professional judges at the Sendai District Court on Nov. 25 sentenced a male 19-year-old to death for murdering two people and injuring two others, one of them seriously. This is the second death sentence under the lay judge system ...

Global-related | SENTAKU MAGAZINE Nov 26, 2010

Highhanded prosecutors get judicial pat on the back

The arrogance and self-complacence of public prosecutors have been exposed with the acquittal of a high-ranking former welfare ministry official who had been indicted on a charge of forgery, and the subsequent arrest and indictment of two prosecutors accused of hiding evidence of data ...