Members of Japan LDP Oppose Retrial System Reform Bill

Tokyo, April 4 (Jiji Press)–Members of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party have voiced opposition to a bill to reform the retrial system that the government is considering submitting. At an LDP meeting to check a draft of the bill, objections were raised against the right of public prosecutors to appeal court decisions granting retrials included in the draft. The outlook for the bill is uncertain. “We do not intend to conclude discussions hastily,” former Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki said at the beginning of the meeting, held jointly by the LDP’s Judicial Affairs Division and Judiciary System Research Commission on Friday. “Each issue will be examined in depth,” he added. The meeting, originally scheduled to last an hour, was extended to two and a half hours. In heated exchanges, angry shouts erupted occasionally. According to participants, most of those who spoke argued that appeals by prosecutors should be banned, saying such appeals impede relief for wrongful convictions and that appeals are often filed mechanically and uniformly. Only one expressed support for the draft, saying discussions at the government’s Legislative Council must be respected. Some participants requested that experts and victims of wrongful convictions be invited to give their opinions at a joint meeting of the two groups. The right of public prosecutors to appeal retrial rulings has long been regarded as problematic because it tends to delay relief for wrongful convictions. In the case of the 1966 family murder in Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka District Court approved a retrial for then death row inmate Iwao Hakamata, 90, in 2014. It took nine years and seven months, however, to begin the retrial as public prosecutors appealed against the decision. Hakamata was later acquitted. In Legislative Council subgroup talks held before the draft was made, two members who are lawyers recommended by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations strongly demanded that the appeal right be abolished. The subgroup adopted an outline of a retrial system reform bill that did not include a ban on the right with support from 10 out of the 13 members, excluding the chair, as many members, including from the academic world and the prosecution, upheld the right. The LDP will hold a joint meeting of the two groups again on Monday to continue discussions on the issue. “We’ll revise the bill before the cabinet adopts it,” a participant said. The government planned to submit the bill to parliament after approving it on Tuesday. But it is uncertain whether the government will be able to do this. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]