The Koso appeal rate against judgments of the first instance handed down in 2001 was 11.8% for district court judgments and 5.4% for summary court judgments. In 2001, high courts received Koso appeals involving 7,629 defendants. By type of persons concerned in the Koso appeal, 7,397 (97.0%) were only appealed by the defendant's side, 174 (2.3%) were only by the public prosecutor, 56 (0.7%) were by both sides, and 2 (0.03%) were brought by other dispositions ( reversed and remanded or transferred, retried, etc.) (Source: Annual Report of Judicial Statistics).
   Table 2-3-2-4 shows the judgments made by high courts in Koso appeal trials in 2001, by type of offense.
  In the total number of defendants finally disposed by high courts in such trials (7,629), 64.4% were disposed as dismissal of appeals, 19.7% as withdrawal of appeals, and 15.6% were reversed and rendered as new judgments by high courts. By type of offense, the withdrawal rate was high in the case of Stimulant Drug Control Law violation (30.2%), larceny (23.2%), and Firearms and Swords Control Law violation (23.1%), while the new judgment rate (rate of cases in which original judgments were reversed and new judgments were rendered) was high in the case of Horse Racing Law violation (100.0%), bodily injury caused by negligence (28.2%), gambling/lottery violation acts (26.7%), and extortion (26.4%).
  As for the reason for reversal of appeals at high courts, in the total number of those reversed the appeals (1,194), 758 (63.5%) were reversed due to the circumstances after the original judgment was rendered, and 264 (22.1 %) were reversed due to inappropriateness of sentencing. Under the new judgments, 9 defendants were found not guilty as a result of the original judgment being reversed, accounting for 0.1% of the total number of defendants finally disposed by high courts.
  Of the 27 defendants who were involved in cases in which public prosecutors filed Koso appeals against the not-guilty judgment in the first instance in 2001, 14 (51.9%) were found guilty as a result of the original judgment being reversed (Source: Annual Report of Statistics on Prosecution).
  The Jokoku appeal rate against judgments made by Koso appeal trials in 2001 was 41.3 %, higher than the Koso appeal rate against those of the first instance. The Supreme Court received Jokoku appeals involving 2,190 defendants, and made final disposal by Jokoku appeal trials on 1,997 defendants. Of these, 552 (27.6%) were disposed as withdrawal of Jokoku appeals, 1,433 (71.8%) as dismissal of Jokoku appeals, and 2 (0.1%) were reversed and remanded or transferred (Source: Annual Report of Judicial Statistics).

Table 2-3-2-4 Number of defendants finally disposed by Koso appeals, by type of offense (2001)