The country’s criminal justice system, in which 99.9 per cent of prosecutions are successful, has long been criticised for taking suspects ‘hostage’
The shock arrest of former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn has thrown the international spotlight onto Japan’s criminal justice system, where suspects face prolonged detention and interrogation without lawyers present.
Rights groups, lawyers and legal scholars have for years criticised the system, which relies heavily on squeezing out a “confession” from a suspect following lengthy and gruelling questioning.
After extracting this confession, prosecutors nearly always secure a conviction at trial, as an admission of guilt usually outweighs all other evidence.
Colin Jones, a professor at Doshisha Law School, wrote recently in the Japan Times that the system is often referred to as “hitojichi shiho” or “hostage-based justice system.”
“The ‘hostage’ is the suspect. The ‘ransom’ is their confession,” wrote Jones.
But despite international criticism, there is little public appetite for change, as Japan’s safe streets mean ordinary people have virtually no experience of crime and often view it as an abstract concept.
Authorities too defend the status quo, arguing that the nation’s legal protocols have emerged out of Japan’s unique culture and history and foreigners should mind their own business.
Ghosn, 64, was arrested on November 19 and the court has granted prosecutors’ requests to hold him until December 10 to decide whether to indict him on charges of under-reporting his salary.
Prosecutors are widely expected to file additional charges against the tycoon and with each charge they can seek to hold him for another 22 days, with limited access to his lawyers.
