Section 4 Treatment of Inmates Awaiting Judgment, etc.

Inmates awaiting judgment are held separately from sentenced inmates, keeping distance from bad habits and protecting their privacy.

The treatment of inmates awaiting judgment is designed to prevent them from escaping and destroying any evidence, while still respecting their right to defend themselves as a suspect or a defendant, and to ensure appropriate custody of them. They are provided with treatment in their cells both day and night, in principle, and held alone in single cells if possible.

Unlike sentenced inmates, those awaiting judgment generally use self-supplied clothing and bedding and have a wider range of freedom to utilize self-supplied food, drink, and other daily necessities, as long as they do not pose any risk on the maintenance of discipline/order and the performance of other administrative duties. Reading books (including newspapers and magazines) is permitted as long as they do not pose any risk of evidence being destroyed or the discipline/order in the institution being violated. Visits and sending/receiving letters suffer restriction under the Code of Criminal Procedure, and also not to pose any risk of evidence being destroyed, or to maintain the discipline/order or the performance of administrative duties in the institution. In addition, visits to inmates awaiting judgment, excluding those from their defense counsels, are observed by officials, in principle, and the content of letters are subject to censorship.

Those being detained, etc. can be accommodated in detention facilities in place of penal institutions (substitute detention), and many of them under detention before prosecution are in those facilities. The average daily number of persons detained in detention facilities as substitute detention in FY 2011 was 9,559 (Source: The Correction Bureau, Ministry of Justice).

Those sentenced to the death penalty in a final judgment are detained in penal institutions separately from the other inmates until execution of their sentence. Particular attention is paid to ensuring the mental stability of inmates sentenced to the death penalty in a final judgment. In addition, advice and lectures that are considered to contribute to their mental stability are given in cooperation with private volunteers, as required. As of the end of 2011 there were 128 inmates who had been sentenced to the death penalty in a final judgment (Source: Annual Report of Statistics on Correction).