The Naha District Court on March 14 acquitted a stock investment firm president of fraud charges. The ruling was the first one on a case in which a person was indicted on the basis of a vote by a prosecution inquest committee — an independent judicial panel made up of 11 citizens. It should serve as catalyst for public discussions on how to improve the prosecution inquest system.

Citizens panels have been established across the nation. Under a system introduced in May 2009, if a citizens' panel votes twice to indict someone — a vote taking place each time public prosecutors decide not to indict that person — the panel's decision overrides the public prosecutors' decision.

The Okinawa prefectural police arrested Mr. Toshihiro Shirakami in March 2010 on suspicion of cheating three people out of ¥48 million by soliciting investment in unlisted stocks. The Naha Prosecution Inquest Committee's vote in July that year overrode the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office's decision to not indict him.