Column 3 Criminal Justice System in Line with the Times

In response to a decline in public confidence in investigations and trial proceedings by prosecutors, the Minister of Justice established the Review Meeting on Prosecution in 2010. Based on the recommendations made at this Meeting and the Report of the Legislative Council of the Ministry of Justice in 2014, a bill partially amending the Code of Criminal Procedure, etc. was submitted to the Diet in 2015 and enacted in 2016. This new law included the following:

• (i)Introduction of video and voice recording of interrogations;
• (ii)Introduction of an agreement system where a prosecutor agrees to dismiss or request a lenient penalty if the accused agrees to cooperate with the investigation;
• (iii)Introduction of transactional immunity;
• (iv)Expansion of the range of offenses for which wiretapping is permitted and promotion of efficiency of wiretap procedures;
• (v)Expansion of the range of cases for which a court appoints defense counsel for suspects;
• (vi)Introduction of a system for issuing a list of evidence; and
• (vii)Expansion of the scope of the examination of witnesses through video links.