The Justice Ministry on Thursday proposed making criminals and law-violating juveniles engage in social service activities, including cleaning public facilities such as parks or providing care at nursing homes for the elderly while they are on parole or probation.
The ministry also proposed launching a new scheme that would partially suspend penalties for first-time offenders in nonheinous crimes and for those convicted of using drugs, including stimulants and marijuana.
The proposals are part of ministry correctional-system reforms aimed at enhancing parolees' morality, preventing them from committing second offenses, and also at easing the overcrowding at prisons and reformatories.
The ministry filed the plans Thursday with a subcommittee of the Legislative Council, an advisory panel for the justice minister, for discussion, officials said.
Upon endorsement from the council, the Justice Ministry will present a bill to the extra session of the Diet to be convened this fall if all goes smoothly, the officials said.
The plans call for either a probation office or a regional parole board to instruct probationers to engage in social work. Parole could canceled if they refuse such work.
Adults and juveniles who are paroled from prison or reformatories are usually placed on probation for a certain time. In some cases, they are simply put on probation without being sent to reformatories.
Probation officers and private-sector volunteer workers have regular interviews with them to find out about their living situations and provide counseling. Currently there are around 50,000 such volunteer workers across the nation.
Justice Ministry data show about 42,000 people were placed on probation during 2007.