The right to plea bargain was finally introduced in Japan in an amendment to the criminal procedure law that took effect Friday. The system enables prosecutors to forego indictment of or to file less serious charges against suspects or defendants in return for their cooperation in investigations by offering testimony or evidence against accomplices. There are hopes that the system will serve as a useful tool for investigators in cracking down on organized crime.
While the plea bargaining system has been introduced in many other countries, it marks a major development in Japan's criminal justice system. But whereas the system is widely used in the United States, for example, to expedite criminal investigations and trial proceedings by allowing suspects or defendants to seek leniency in return for agreeing to plead guilty to their own crimes, the new system in Japan does not allow such bargaining by suspects or the accused concerning their own crimes. It is being introduced essentially as a new investigation tool for police and prosecutors.
Due to the very nature of the practice of suspects or defendants testifying against others in an effort to gain leniency, concern lingers that they could lie to prosecutors for their own benefit, possibly resulting in false charges being levied against innocent people. That, if it ever happens, would defeat the whole purpose of the criminal justice reform, which had been triggered by an incident in which false charges were filed against a senior Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry bureaucrat in a case that was built by prosecutors intent on manipulating evidence against the official. The plea bargain system should be constantly reviewed to see if effectively guards against the risk of false charges based on false testimony against innocent people — so as to develop public trust in the system.