Japan Advocates Revise Criminal Justice Law

Human rights advocates gathered in Kanazawa, Japan on May 20 to call for revisions to the criminal justice law before it goes to parliamentary review. The group voiced concerns about a government bill intended to reform the retrial system. They cited the Fukui Incident—a case where a man spent 38 years wrongly convicted—as an example of the need for legal changes to aid victims of wrongful convictions.

Current criminal procedure law lacks sufficient provisions for retrials. Evidence held by investigators often remains undisclosed, and prosecutors can appeal decisions to begin retrials, blocking relief for the wrongly accused. The advocates referenced the “Shirotori Decision” of May 20, 1975—a Supreme Court ruling clarifying the principle of “reasonable doubt benefits the accused.”

The group specifically criticized the bill’s restrictions on using disclosed evidence for purposes outside of retrial procedures. They fear limiting public access to evidence will obscure critical issues, recalling how supporters of Kiyoshi Takama—who was wrongly convicted in a 1966 quadruple homicide—used disclosed color photos to conduct experiments with his legal team. The advocates will continue to push for broader access to evidence.