3 Appeals

  In 2007, the Joso appeal rate against the final judgments in the ordinary first instance (the rate of persons who filed Joso appeals (Koso appeal and leapfrog procedure) among persons finally disposed excluding those for whom dismissal of prosecution was decided or a request for formal trials was withdrawn) was 10.6% in the case of district courts and 5.8% in the case of summary courts, which were more or less at the same level as the previous year. The number of Koso appeal defendants finally disposed by high courts in 2007 was 8,422, out of which 8,168 (97.0%) were appealed only by the defendant's side, 195 (2.3%) were only by public prosecutors, 55 were by both sides, and four were for reversal and remand, etc. (Source: Annual Report of Judicial Statistics).
  Table 2-3-1-6 shows the number of defendants finally disposed in Koso appeal cases by high courts by type of offense in 2007.
  Dismissal of appeal was the largest in number at 5,603 persons (66.5%), followed by withdrawal of appeal at 1,595 (18.9%) and original judgment reversed (new judgment) at 1,176 (14.0%).
  Out of the total of 1,188 defendants whose judgments were reversed at high courts, a majority of 710 were due to circumstances after the original judgments, followed by inappropriateness of sentencing (276 persons) and error in fact-finding (115 persons). As a result of new judgments, 17 defendants were found not guilty (Source: Annual Report of Statistics on Prosecution).
  In 2007, out of 48 defendants for whom public prosecutors filed Koso appeals against the not-guilty judgments in the first instance, 29 were found guilty (Source: Annual Report of Statistics on Prosecution).
  The Jokoku appeal rate against judgments made by Koso appeal trials (the rate of persons who filed Jokoku appeal among persons finally disposed excluding those for whom dismissal of appeal or dismissal of prosecution was decided or a request for Jokoku appeal was withdrawn) in 2007 was 37.1%, higher than the Joso appeal rate against those of the first instance.
  The Supreme Court made final dispositions on 2,542 defendants of Jokoku appeals (including those whose first instance was carried out by high courts). The breakdown of this number was 2,016 (79.3%) for dismissal of Jokoku appeals, 518 (20.4%) for withdrawal of Jokoku appeals, five for dismissal of prosecution, three for reversal and remand, etc., and none for quashing and decision (Source: Annual Report of Judicial Statistics).

Table 2-3-1-6  Number of defendants finally disposed in Koso appeal trials, by type of offense (2007)