Takaichi Govt OKs Retrial System Reform Bill

Tokyo, May 15 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s cabinet of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi approved a bill Friday to ban in principle public prosecutors’ appeals against court orders granting retrials. If the amendment bill to the criminal procedure law, set for immediate submission by the government to parliament, is enacted, the revised law will stipulate the principle ban on the prosecutor complaints in its main text, not in a supplementary clause as previously sought by the government. The enactment will reform the country’s retrial system for the first time since the original law was established in 1948. Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi told a news conference the same day that the bill “has great significance because it is designed to make the retrial system properly function as an emergency relief measure.” Expressing hope that the law amendment obtains parliamentary consent during the current session ending in July, Hiraguchi said, “We are going to provide a thorough explanation.” The current law has often been criticized for its lack of sufficient provisions on retrial petitions delaying the disclosure of evidence held by investigative authorities and its approval of appeals by prosecutors depriving wrongly convicted people of opportunities for being rescued swiftly. The bill calls for deleting the approval from main rules and, instead, introducing a new clause allowing prosecutors to appeal retrial decisions “only if there are adequate grounds.” It also demands that reasons for such appeals be made public promptly. Included as well in the bill are new rules on evidence disclosure enabling courts to order prosecutors to submit evidence under certain conditions and penalizing sharing disclosed evidence with third parties, such as supporters of plaintiffs and news organizations, for non-retrial procedural use. Other newly proposed provisions require the introduction of a “screening system” so courts can decide early whether to launch full-scale hearings on retrial petitions and the exclusion of retrial-ordering judges from subsequent hearings. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]