Chapter 2 Special Act Offenses

Section 1 Principal Data

The principal data on special act offenses in 2009 is as follows.

Principal data on special act offenses, 2009
  Number of persons newly received by public prosecutors offices (Proportion) (Change from previous year)
(Source: Annual Report of Statistics on Prosecution)
[1] Road Traffic Act violations 487,142 (80.6%) (-38,720, -7.4%)
[2] Stimulants Control Act violations 19,365 (3.2%) (+1,099, +6.0%)
[3] Minor Offense Act violations 16,396 (2.7%) (+784, +5.0%)
[4] Waste Management Act violations 8,576 (1.4%) (-11, -0.1%)
[5] Immigration Control Act violations 5,648 (0.9%) (-1,153, -17.0%)
[6] Firearms and Swords Control Act violations 6,989 (1.2%) (+636, +10.0%)
[7] Car Parking Spaces Act violations 5,237 (0.9%) (-290, -5.2%)
[8] Automobile Liability Security Act violations 5,092 (0.8%) (+271, +5.6%)
[9] Amusement Business Act violations 3,915 (0.6%) (-472, -10.8%)
[10] Cannabis Control Act violations 4,392 (0.7%) (+334, +8.2%)
Others 41,346 (6.8%)  
Total 604,098 (100.0%) (-37,651, -5.9%)
  [Total in 1990]   [Change from 1990]
  1,307,940   [-703,842, -53.8%]

Fig. 1-2-1-1 shows the number of persons newly received by public prosecutors offices for special act offenses since 1949 on. The number of persons received for overall special act offenses sharply dropped when the traffic infraction notification system came into force in 1968 but remained within the range between two and three million from 1975 through to 1984. The number then sharply dropped again due to expansion of the scope of the system in 1987, and subsequently was on an overall decreasing trend. However, the number of persons received for special act offenses, excluding violations of road traffic related acts, started to increase from 2001 on. The number decreased by 7.9% from the previous year in 2008 but then increased again by 1.2% in 2009.

Fig. 1-2-1-1 Number of persons newly received by public prosecutors offices for special act offenses (1949-2009)

Fig. 1-2-1-1

Fig. 1-2-1-2 shows the percent distribution of persons newly received by public prosecutors offices for special act offenses excluding violations of road traffic related acts by type of offense in 2009.

Fig. 1-2-1-2 Percent distribution of persons newly received by public prosecutors offices for special act offenses excluding violations of road traffic related acts by type of offense (2009)

Fig. 1-2-1-2