Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T03:29:04.579Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Lay Participation in Japanese Criminal Justice: Prosecution Review Commissions, the Lay-Judge System, and Penal Institution Visiting Committees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2020

Stacey STEELE ,
Carol LAWSON ,
Mari HIRAYAMA  and
David T. JOHNSON
Stacey STEELE
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
Carol LAWSON
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales & Australian National University College of Law
Mari HIRAYAMA
Affiliation:
Hakuoh University
David T. JOHNSON
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article highlights reliance on lay participation as a mechanism for solving perceived problems in Japanese criminal justice by examining three reforms aimed at increasing lay participation in Japanese criminal justice: the mandatory prosecution power given to Prosecution Review Commissions, the saiban’in seido (lay-judge system), and Penal Institution Visiting Committees. The article argues that lay participation plays an important role in legitimizing aspects of the current system. Despite the Nagoya Prison Scandal in 2002–03, Japan’s extraordinary achievements in order inside prisons have been maintained and citizens are comforted that the system has oversight by Visiting Committees. Although PRCs and saiban’in seido represent a more open approach to eligibility and selection than Visiting Committees, they too help to legitimize existing structures. The article concludes by considering challenges to the continued reliance on lay participation in Japan including reform fatigue, the demographic crisis, the impact of geography, and technological developments.

Keywords

Japancriminal justicelay participationProsecution Review Commissionssaiban’in seidolay-judge systemPenal Institution Visiting Committees
Type
Research Article
Information
Asian Journal of Law and Society , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , February 2020 , pp. 159 - 189
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and KoGuan Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

•

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of a Melbourne Law School–Asia Research Collaboration Grant ("Death Penalty, Prosecution and Detention in Japan") for the workshop and related research assistance that led to this article. Ms Lawson’s contribution was also supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship and Endeavour Research Fellowship. We thank our research assistants, Kaori Kano and Subin Cho, of the Asian Law Centre, Melbourne Law School. This article reflects the authors’ personal opinions. Statements do not represent the views or policies of employers, past or present, or any other organization with which any author is affiliated.

*

Associate Director (Japan), Asian Law Centre and Associate Professor at Melbourne Law School, the University of Melbourne.

**

Associate Lecturer, University of New South Wales Centre for Law, Markets and Regulation; PhD Candidate, Australian National University (ANU) College of Law.

***

Professor of Law at Hakuoh University.

****

Professor of Sociology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

References

REFERENCES

Agence France-Presse (2018) “Held ‘Hostage’ by Police? Carlos Ghosn’s Arrest Highlights Japan’s Overreliance on Extracting Confessions from Suspects,” South China Morning Post, 4 December, https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2176360/predetermined-justice-carlos-ghosns-arrest-highlights-japans (accessed 8 January 2019).Google Scholar
Amber, Leah (2008) “The People Decide: The Effect of the Introduction of the Quasi-Jury System (Saiban-in Seido) on the Death Penalty in Japan.” 6 Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights 1–23.Google Scholar
Amnesty International (2018) “Japan 2017/2018,” https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/asia-and-the-pacific/japan/report-japan/ (accessed 14 January 2018).Google Scholar
Anderson, Kent, & Nolan, Mark (2004) “Lay Participation in the Japanese Justice System: A Few Preliminary Thoughts Regarding the Lay Assessor System (Saiban-in Seido) from Domestic Historical and International Psychological Perspectives.” 37 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 935–92.Google Scholar
Botsman, Daniel (2005) Punishment and Power in the Making of Modern Japan, Princeton, NJ and Oxford: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Boyne, George, Day, Patricia, & Walker, Richard (2002) “The Evaluation of Public Service Inspection: A Theoretical Framework.” 39 Urban Studies 1197–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Center for Prisoners Rights (2019) “Gōmon kinshi i’inkai no dai-2 seifu hōkokusho shinsa o ukete – hikōkinsha no jinken jōkyo no kaizen to shikei seido · shikei kakuteisha shogū no minaoshi o motomeru seimei [Response to the Comments of the Committee Against Torture on Japan’s Second Periodic Report—Submission Seeking the Improvement of the Human Rights Conditions of Detainees and the Review of the Death Penalty and the Treatment of Those on Death Row],” http://www.cpr.jca.apc.org/archive/statement (accessed 26 March 2019).Google Scholar
Courts in Japan (undated-a) “Kensatsu shinsakai seido Q&A [Prosecution Review Commission System Q&A],” http://www.courts.go.jp/kensin/q_a/q59/index.html (accessed 5 April 2019).Google Scholar
Courts in Japan (undated-b) “Zenkoku no kensatsu shinsakai ichiranhyō [List of PRC in Japan],” http://www.courts.go.jp/kensin/seido_itiran/index.html (accessed 5 April 2019).Google Scholar
Croydon, Silvia (2016a) “Prison Law Reform in Japan: How the Bureaucracy Was Held to Account over the Nagoya Prison Scandal.” 14 The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus 1–30.Google Scholar
Croydon, Silvia (2016b) The Politics of Police Detention in Japan: Consensus of Convenience, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Day, Patricia, & Klein, Rudolf (1990) Inspecting the Inspectorates, York: Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust.Google Scholar
Doi, Masakazu (2014) “Keimusho ni okeru fukushi to iryō: Keiji Shisetsu Shisatsu I’in no keiken o fumaete [Welfare and Medical Care in Prison: Through the Experiences of a Penal Institution Visiting Committee Member],” 125 Keisei [Japanese Journal of Correction] 12–23.Google Scholar
Ellis, Tom, Lewis, Chris, & Sato, Mai (2011) “The Japanese Probation Service: A Third Sector Template?” 58 Probation Journal 333–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foote, Daniel H. (1996) “Judicial Creation of Norms in Japanese Labor Law: Activism in the Service of—Stability?” 43 UCLA Law Review 635–710.Google Scholar
Foote, Daniel H. (2007) “Introduction and Overview: Japan at a Turning Point,” in Foote, D. H., ed., Law in Japan: A Turning Point, Seattle: University of Washington Press, xix–xxxix.Google Scholar
Foote, Daniel H. (2010) “Policymaking by the Japanese Judiciary in the Criminal Justice Field,” 72 Hōshakaigaku [Journal of the Japanese Association for Sociology of Law] 6–47.Google Scholar
Foote, Daniel H. (2014) “Citizen Participation: Appraising the Saiban’in System,” 22 Michigan State International Law Review 755–75.Google Scholar
Fujita, Masahiro (2018) Japanese Society and Law Participation in Criminal Justice, Cham: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fukuda, Keita (2013) “Nihon no keimusho ura nenpyō: keimusho ‘jiken’ 140-nenshi 1868–2013 [The Hidden History of Japanese Prisons: 140 Years of Security Incidents 1868–2013],” in Kubota, M., Saito, M., Hinago, A.et al., eds., Keimusho no tabū [Prison Taboos], Tokyo: Takarajimasha.Google Scholar
Fukurai, Hiroshi (2007) “The Rebirth of Japan’s Petit Quasi-Jury and Grand Jury Systems: A Cross-National Analysis of Legal Consciousness and the Law Participatory Experience in Japan and the US,” 40 Cornell International Law Journal 315–54.Google Scholar
Fukurai, Hiroshi (2011) “Japan’s Prosecutorial Review Commissions: Lay Oversight of the Government’s Discretion of Prosecution,” 6 University of Pennsylvania East Asia Law Review 1–42.Google Scholar
Fukurai, Hiroshi (2013) “A Step in the Right Direction for Japan’s Judicial Reform: Impact of the Justice System Reform Council Recommendations on Criminal Justice and Citizen Participation in Criminal, Civil, and Administrative Litigation.” 36 Hastings International and Comparative Law Review 517–67.Google Scholar
Fukurai, Hiroshi, & Wang, Zhouyu (2014) “People’s Grand Jury Panels and the State’s Inquisitorial Institutions: Prosecution Review Commissions in Japan and People’s Supervisors in China.” 37 Fordham International Law Journal 929–72.Google Scholar
Goodman, Carl (2013) “Prosecution Review Commissions, the Public Interest, and the Rights of the Accused: The Need for a ‘Grown Up’ in the Room.” 22 Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal 24–30.Google Scholar
Gyōkei kaikaku kaigi [Correctional Administration Reform Council] (2003) “Gyōkei kaikaku kaigi teigen – Kokumin ni rikai sare, sasaerareru keimusho e [Correctional Administration Reform Council Proposal—Toward Prisons that Citizens Understand and Support],” http://www.moj.go.jp/content/000001612.pdf (accessed 5 April 2019).Google Scholar
Herber, Erik (2016a) “The 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Japanese Citizen’s Role in the Pursuit of Criminal Responsibility.” 42 Zeitchriftrt fuer Japanisches Recht/Journal of Japanese Law 87–109.Google Scholar
Herber, Erik (2016b) “Victim Participation in Japan: When Therapeutic Jurisprudence Meets Prosecutor Justice.” 3 Asian Journal of Law and Society 135–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herber, Erik (2019) Lay and Expert Contributions to Japanese Criminal Justice, New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for England and Wales (“HM Inspectorate of Prisons”) (undated) “What We Do,” https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/about-hmi-prisons/ (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Hirayama, Mari (2012) “Lay Judge Decisions in Sex Crime Cases: The Most Controversial Area of Saiban’in Trials.” 3 Yonsei Law Journal 128–45.Google Scholar
Ikeda, Osamu (2009) Kaisetsu saiban’in hō: Rippō no kei’i to kadai [Commentary on the Saiban’in Act: Legislative History and Agenda], 2nd edn, Tokyo: Kōbundō Publishers.Google Scholar
Independent Web Journal (2014) “Tōden wa zendengen sōshitsu o yosōdekita – Kensatu shinsakai ga katsumata tsunehisa moto kaichōra moto Tōden kanbu 3-nin ni ‘kiso sōtō’ giketsu – Fukushima genpatsu kokusodan ga Fukushima shi de kinkyū kisha kaiken [‘TEPCO Could Have Predicted the Total Power Loss,’ Prosecution Review Committee’s ‘Indictment is Proper’ Decision Against Three TEPCO Executives including Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata—Urgent Press Conference by Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Prosecution Group in Fukushima City],” https://iwj.co.jp/wj/open/archives/159240 (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Institute for Criminal Policy Research (2019) “World Prison Brief Data: Japan,” http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/japan (accessed 10 July 2019).Google Scholar
Ishikawa, Masaoki, ed. (2014) Shihō shisutemu kara fukushi shisutemu e no daiba-jon puroguramu no genjō to kadai [Current Situation and Issues in Programs Diverting Offenders from the Judicial System to the Welfare System], Tokyo: Seibundō.Google Scholar
Ito, Kazuko (2013) “Wrongful Convictions and Recent Criminal Justice Reform in Japan.” 80 University of Cincinnati Law Review 1245–75.Google Scholar
Iwasawa, Yuji (1998) International Law, Human Rights, and Japanese Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Japan Federation of Bar Associations (“JFBA”) (2009) “Keiji Shisetsu Shisatsu I’inkai no arikata ni kansuru ikensho [Opinion on the Future Shape of Penal Institution Visiting Committees],” 17 September, https://www.nichibenren.or.jp/library/ja/opinion/report/data/090917.pdf (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Japan Federation of Bar Associations (“JFBA”) (2015) “Keiji Shisetsu Shisatsu I’inkai no katsudō jujitsu no tame ni [Towards Fulfilling the Potential of Penal Institution Inspection Committee Activities],” https://www.nichibenren.or.jp/library/ja/publication/booklet/data/keijishisetsuiinkai.pdf (accessed 5 April 2019).Google Scholar
Japan Federation of Bar Associations (“JFBA”) (2016) “Kensatsu shinsakai seido no unyō kaizen oyobi seido kaikaku o motomeru ikensho [Statement of Opinion Seeking Improvements in Prosecution Review Commission Operations and Reform of the Prosecution Review Commission System],” 15 September, https://www.nichibenren.or.jp/library/ja/opinion/report/data/2016/opinion_160915_5.pdf (accessed 14 July 2019).Google Scholar
Japan Federation of Bar Associations (“JFBA”) (undated) “Kensatsu shinsakai ni kansuru torikumi (Kensatsu shinsakai wākingu gurūpu) [Efforts Concerning Prosecution Review Commissions (Prosecution Review Commissions Working Group)],” https://www.nichibenren.or.jp/activity/criminal/kensatsu_shinsakai.html (accessed 6 July 2019).Google Scholar
Japan Times (2019) “Reviewing the Lay Judge Trial System,” The Japan Times, 24 January, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2019/01/24/editorials/reviewing-lay-judge-trial-system/#.XF-4LGddmos (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Johnson, David T. (2002) The Japanese Way of Justice: Prosecuting Crime in Japan, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Johnson, David T. (2009) “Capital Punishment Without Capital Trials in Japan’s Law Judge System.” 7 The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus 1–40.Google Scholar
Johnson, David T. (2015) “Wrongful Convictions and the Culture of Denial in Japanese Criminal Justice.” 13 The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus 1–10.Google Scholar
Johnson, David T., & Hirayama, Mari (2019) “Japan’s Reformed Prosecution Review Commission: Changes, Challenges, and Lessons.” 14 Asian Journal of Criminology 77–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, Elmer (1996) Japanese Corrections: Managing Convicted Offenders in an Orderly Society, Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.Google Scholar
Jones, Colin P. A. (2017) “Japan’s New Conspiracy Law Expands Police Power,” –https://apjjf.org/-Colin-P-A–Jones/5064/article.pdf (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Jones, Colin P. A., & Ravitch, Frank S. (2018) The Japanese Legal System, St Paul, MN: West Academic Publishing.Google Scholar
Justice System Reform Council (2001) “Recommendations of the Justice System Reform Council—for a Justice System to Support Japan in the 21st Century,” http://japan.kantei.go.jp/judiciary/2001/0612report.html (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Kage, Reiko (2017) Who Judges? Designing Jury Systems in Japan, East Asia, and Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaido, Yuichi (2010) “Keiji Shisetsu Shisatsu I’inkai setsuritsu 3-nenkan no katsudō seika to kongo no kadai [Penal Institution Visiting Committees—First Three Years’ Results and Issues Ahead].” 91 Niben Frontier 48–51.Google Scholar
Kano, Kaori, & Steele, Stacey (2017) “Japan’s Lay Judge System (Saiban-in Seido) and Legislative Developments: Annotated Translation of the Act Amending the Act on Criminal Trials with Participation of Saiban-in.” 17 Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal 1–12.Google Scholar
Kano, Kaori, & Steele, Stacey (2018) “Developments in Contemporary Japanese Electoral Law: Lowering the Voting Age from 20 to 18 Years Old.” 23 Zeitschrift fuer Japanisches Recht/Journal of Japanese Law 103–27.Google Scholar
Kawai, Mikio (2014) “Keiji shisetsu shisatsui’in seido to shimin no shihō sanka [The Penal Institution Visiting Committee System and Civil Participation],” in Wada, Y., Kashimura, S., Abe, M., & Funakoshi, M., eds., Hō no kansatsu: Hō to shakai no hihanteki saikōchiku ni mukete [Oversight of Law: Towards a Critical Reconstruction of Law and Society], Tokyo: Hōritsu Bunkasha, 115–33.Google Scholar
Keihō [Penal Code], Act No. 45 of 1907, http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=3130&vm=02&re=2&new=1 (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Keiji shisetsu oyobi hishūyōsha no shogū- ni kansuru kisoku [Regulations on Penal Institutions and Treatment of Inmates], Ministry of Justice Ordinance No. 57 of 2006, http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail_download/?ff=14&id=3227&x=26&y=5 (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Keiji shisetsu oyobi jukeisha no shogū to ni kansuru hōritsu no ichibu o kaisei suru hōritsu [Act Amending Parts of the Act in Relation to the Penal Institution and the Treatment of Inmates], Act No. 58 of 2006, http://www.shugiin.go.jp/internet/itdb_housei.nsf/html/housei/16420060608058.htm (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Keiji shūyō shisetsu oyobi hishūyōsha tō no shogū ni kansuru hōritsu [Act on Penal Detention Facilities and Treatment of Inmates and Detainees], Act No. 50 of 2005, http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail_main?re=&vm=2&id=142 (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Keiji soshō hō [Code of Criminal Procedure], Act No. 131 of 1948, http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=2283&vm=02&re=2&new=1 (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Kensatu shinsai’in tō no nittō oyobi shukuhakuryō o sadameru seirei [Cabinet Order prescribing t the Travel Expenses, Daily Wages, and Accommodation Expenses for Members of Prosecution Review Commissions], Order No. 31 of 1949, http://www.courts.go.jp/kensin/q_a/q59/index.html (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Kensatsu shinsakai hō [Prosecution Review Commission Act], ("PRC Act"), Act No. 147 of 1948, http://www.shugiin.go.jp/internet/itdb_housei.nsf/html/houritsu/00219480712147.htm (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Kokka ko-muin hō [The National Public Service Act], Act No. 120 of 1947, http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=2713&vm=04&re=2&new=1 (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Ko-shoku senkyo hō [Public Election Act], Law No. 100 of 1950, https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/search/elawsSearch/elaws_search/lsg0500/detail?lawId=325AC1000000100 (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Kōya, Matsuo (1981) “Dai-4 han no kankō ni attate [Preface to the Fourth Edition],” in Hirano, R., Matsuo, K., & Tamiya, H., eds., Keiji Soshō hō hanrei hyakusen dai-4 han [The Most Influential 100 Criminal Procedure Cases], 4th edn, Juristo Special Edition, 74.Google Scholar
Kuwayama, Aya (2010) “Exploring the Possibility of Designating a National Preventive Mechanism in Japan.” 6 Essex Human Rights Review 125–37.Google Scholar
Lawson, Carol (2015) “Reforming Japanese Corrections: Catalysts and Conundrums,” in Wolff, L., Nottage, L., & Anderson, K., eds., Who Rules Japan? Popular Participation in the Japanese Legal Process, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 128–63.Google Scholar
Lawson, Carol (2019) “Satoshi Tomiyama, Director-General of the Japanese Corrections Bureau,” in Birch, P. & Das, D., eds., Trends in Corrections Volume 3: Interviews with Corrections Leaders Around the World, Florida: CRC Press/Taylor Francis, 127–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawson, Carol (2020a, forthcoming) “Nihon no tokusei ni michita kōrei dansei jukeisha [Japan’s Older Male Prisoners—a Distinctive Cohort],” in Hosoi, Y. & Tatsuno, B., eds., Kōreisha hanzai no sōgōteki kenkyū: Shakai hoshō, kazoku, kōreika nado o shiya ni, hikaku bunkateki ni kaimei suru [Understanding Elderly Crime: Comparative Cultural Studies through the Lenses of Social Security, Families & Aging], Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing.Google Scholar
Lawson, Carol (2020b, forthcoming doctoral thesis) “The Nature and Impact of Civil Oversight in Prisons in Japan and the Australian Capital Territory: Voices from Inside.” PhD diss., ANU College of Law, Australian National University.Google Scholar
Machida, Tōru (2015) “Tōden moto kanbura o kyōsei kiso! kono kuni no mirai no tame ni kensatsu ga mesu o ireru beki mittsu no tabū [Mandatory Prosecution of Former TEPCO Executives! Three Taboos that the Prosecution Should Investigate for the Future of this Country],” Gendai.ismedia, 4 August, http://gendai.ismedia.jp/articles/-/44512 (accessed 23 January 2019).Google Scholar
Maruyama, Yasuhiro, ed. (2015) Keiji shihō to fukushi o tsunagu [Connecting Criminal Justice and Welfare], Tokyo: Seibundo.Google Scholar
McGowen, Randall (1995) “The Well-Ordered Prison: England, 1780–1865,” in Morris, N. & Rothman, D. J., eds., The Oxford History of the Prison: The Practice of Punishment in Western Society, New York: Oxford University Press, 71–99.Google Scholar
Media Kokusyo (2014) “Tokyo dai-5 kensatsu shinsakai no ‘yami’, dai-5 kenshin ni yoru giwaku darake no Ozawa kiso giketsu no tsugi wa Fukushima genpatsu soshō no shinsa [Tokyo 5th Public Prosecutors’ Review Commission under Cloud: Highly Questionable Decision to Prosecute Ozawa to be Followed by Examination of the Fukushima Nuclear Lawsuit],” Media Kokusyo, 10 June, http://www.kokusyo.jp/kensatsu/5892/ (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Minakawa, Makoto (2015) “Ronsetsu: keiji shisetsu ni okeru hikōkinsha no kokusai jinken hoshō [Article: Guaranteeing the International Human Rights of Detainees in Penal Institutions].” 7 Waseda Shakai Anzen Kenkyusho Kiyo [Proceedings of the Waseda Institute of the Policy of Social Safety] 95–112, https://www.waseda.jp/prj-wipss/ShakaiAnzenSeisakuKenkyujoKiyo_07_Minakawa.pdf (accessed 5 April 2019).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice (2006) “Hōmusho kyōsō dai-3255 go Heisei 18-nen 5-gatsu 23-nichi keiji shisetsu shisatsu i’inkai ni taisuru kyōryoku ni tsuite (tsūtatsu) [Ministry of Justice Correction Bureau General Affairs Directive No. 3255, 23 May 2006, ‘Concerning Co-Operation with Penal Institution Visiting Committees’],” http://www.moj.go.jp/content/000074535.pdf (accessed 5 April 2019).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice (2013) “Saiban’in seido ni kansuru kentōkai torimatome hōkokusho [Consolidated Report of the Working Group on the Lay Judge System],” http://www.moj.go.jp/content/000112006.pdf (accessed 8 February 2019).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice (2017) “White Paper on Crime 2017,” http://hakusyo1.moj.go.jp/en/66/nfm/mokuji.html (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice (2018a) “Hanzai Hakusho 2018 [White Paper on Crime 2018],” http://hakusyo1.moj.go.jp/jp/65/nfm/mokuji.html (accessed 8 February 2019).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice (2018b) “White Paper on Crime 2018,” http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001276462.pdf (accessed 8 February 2019).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice (2018c) “Kyosei tokei chōsa – 17-00-03 Shisetsubetsu nenmatsu shūyōjin’in [Correction Bureau Statistical Survey—17–00–03 End-of-Year Detainee Numbers by Institution],” https://www.e-stat.go.jp/stat-search/file-download?statInfId=000031738094&fileKind=0 (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice (undated) “Keiji Shisetsu Shisatsu I’inkai no katsudō jōkyō [Report on the Activities of Penal Institution Visiting Committees],” http://www.moj.go.jp/shingi1/kyousei_katsudou_index.html (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice Correction Bureau (2015) Keiji Shisetsu Shisatsu I’inkai katsudō no tebiki [Ministry Guide—Penal Institution Visiting Committee Activities], 11 August.Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice Correction Bureau (2019) “Tōkeihyō 19-04-01: Keimusho kōchisho betsu hishūyōsha no nyūshussho jiyū betsu jin’in [Statistical Table 19–04–01: Number of Detainees by Reasons for Entering and Leaving Prisons and Detention Centres],” 25 June, https://www.e-stat.go.jp/stat-search/files?page=1&layout=datalist&toukei=00250005&tstat=000001012930&cycle=1&year=20190&month=12040604 (accessed 10 July 2019).Google Scholar
Mishima, Satoshi (2014) “Osaka Iryō Keimusho Shisatsu I’inkai no 2011-nendo no katsudō jōkyō ni tsuite: nenji hōkokusho ken ikensho oyobi hōmu daijin ate no yōbōsho [Fiscal 2011 Activities of Osaka Medical Prison Penal Institution Visiting Committee: Annual Report, Written Opinions to Warden and Written Requests to the Minister of Justice].” 60 Osaka Shiritsu Daigaku Hōgakukai Hōgaku Zasshi [Osaka City University Law Association Law Journal] 464–507.Google Scholar
Mitchell, Richard (2002) Justice in Japan: The Notorious Teijin Scandal, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miyazawa, Setsuo (1993) Policing in Japan: A Study on Making Crime, Albany: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
Miyazawa, Setsuo (2008) “The Politics of Increasing Punitiveness and the Rising Populism in Japanese Criminal Justice Policy.” 10 Punishment & Society 47–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miyazawa, Setsuo (2014) “Citizen Participation in Criminal Trials in Japan: The Saiban’in System and Victim Participation in Japan in International Perspectives.” 42 International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice 71–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Niimura, Shigefumi (2014) “Kangokuhō kaiseigo no hitotsu no sokumen: keiji shisetsu shisatsu I’inkai no katsudō o megutte [One Aspect of the Prison Act Reforms: Regarding the Activities of Penal Institution Visiting Committees],” in Ishizuka, S., Okamoto, Y., Kusumoto, T., Maeda, A., & Miyamoto, H., eds., Kindai keihō no gendaiteki ronten: Adachi Masakazu sensei koki kinen ronbunshū [Essay Collection in Honour of Professor Masakazu Adachi’s 70th Birthday], Tokyo: Shakai Hyo-ronsha, 350–64.Google Scholar
Nishida, Hiroshi (2014) Keimukan e no ēru – Hōmusho ‘keimukan’ kyokuchō no hitorigoto [Cheering Corrections Officers On: Thoughts from the Director-General of the Correction Bureau], Tokyo: Ko-saido Publishing.Google Scholar
Nuclear Prosecutors Group (undated) “Fukushima genpatsu kokuso dan [Fukushima Nuclear Prosecution Team],” http://kokuso-fukusimagenpatu.blogspot.com/ (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Osakafu ryūchi shisetsu shisatsu i’inkai jōrei [Osaka Prefecture Detention Facility Inspection Committee Ordinance], Prefectural Ordinance No. 11 of 2007, 16 March, http://www.pref.osaka.lg.jp/houbun/reiki/reiki_honbun/k201RG00001401.html (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Owers, Anne (2014) “Comparative Experiences of Implementing Human Rights in Closed Environments: Monitoring for Rights Protection,” in Naylor, B., Debeljak, J., & Mackay, A., eds., Human Rights in Closed Environments, Sydney: Federation Press, 209–27.Google Scholar
Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet (2001a) “Shihō seido kaikaku no mittsu no hashira [Three Pillars of the Justice System Reform],” https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/sihouseido/kentoukai/adr/dai1/1siryou1_3_1.html (accessed 23 January 2019).Google Scholar
Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet (2001b) “Shihō seido kaikaku shingikai ikensho – 21 seiki no Nihon o sasaeru shihō seido [Recommendations of the Justice System Reform Council—for a Judicial System to Support Japan in the 21st Century]” (“JSRC Recommendations”), http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/sihouseido/report/ikensyo/index.html (accessed 8 February 2019).Google Scholar
Quirk, Hannah, Seddon, Toby, & Smith, Graham, eds. (2010) Regulation and Criminal Justice: Innovations in Policy and Research, New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rich, Makoto, & Ewing, Jack (2018) “Japanese Justice Faces Scrutiny in Case of Nissan Chief and U.S. Board Member,” The New York Times, 19 December, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/business/carlos-ghosn-jail.html (accessed 8 January 2019).Google Scholar
Saiban’in no sankasuru keiji saiban ni kansuru hōritsu [Act on Criminal Trials with the Participation of Saiban’in], Act No. 63 of 2004, http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=2772&vm=04&re=2&new=1 (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Saiban’in no sankasuru keiji saiban ni kansuru kisoku [Rules on Lay Judge Participation in Criminal Trials], Supreme Court Rule No. 7 of 2007, http://www.saibanin.courts.go.jp/vcms_lf/kisoku27.pdf (accessed 9 February 2019).Google Scholar
Saikōsai Mondai (2014) “Tōkyō dai-5 kensatsu shinsakai ga, Tōden no moto keieijin ni taishite kisosōtō no giketsu, kujibiki sofuto no giwaku wa hareta no ka? [The Tokyo Fifth Prosecution Review Commission in Favour of Prosecuting the Former TEPCO Management Team: Cleared of Suspicion of Arbitrariness?],” 1 August, http://saikousaimondai.com/prosecutor/6276/ (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Sakamoto, Toshio (2002) Kanzen zukai jitsuroku! keimusho no naka [Fully Illustrated Account! Inside Prison], Tokyo: Futami Bunko.Google Scholar
Sankei News (2016) “Tōden moto kaichōra 3-nin wo kyōsei kiso – kensatu shinsakai no kisogiketsu uke [Compulsory Prosecution of Three Senior TEPCO Executives—Responding to the Decision of the Prosecution Review Commission to Prosecute],” https://www.sankei.com/affairs/news/160229/afr1602290011-n1.html (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Sankei Shimbun (2015) “Tōden genpatsu jiko kyōsei kiso ni wa gimon nokoru [TEPCO Nuclear Power Plant Accident: Compulsory Prosecution Leaves Questions],” 1 August, https://www.sankei.com/column/news/150801/clm1508010002-n2.html (accessed 26 March 2019).Google Scholar
Satomi, Yoshika (2015) “Oshu gōmon tō bōshi i’inkai, Eikoku hōritsu keiji shisetsu shisatsu i’inkai to Nihon no keiji shisetsu shisatsu i’inkai seido [The European Committee Against Torture, Penal Institution Visiting Bodies under English Law, and Japan’s Penal Institution Visiting Committee System],” Jinbun shakaikagaku kenkyūsho nenpō [Institute for Research in Humanities Annual Report], https://www.keiwa-c.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/nenpo13-5.pdf (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Saikō saibansho jimu sōkyoku [Secretariat-General of Supreme Court of Japan] (2012) “Saiban’in saiban jisshi jōkyō no kensho- hōkokusho [Verification Report on the Implementation of Lay Judge Trials],” http://www.saibanin.courts.go.jp/vcms_lf/hyousi_honbun.pdf (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Shinomiya, Satoru (2019) “Saiban’in seido shikko 10-nen: sono seika to kadai [Ten Years since the Commencement of the Lay Judge System: Achievements and Issues]” Presented at Hakuoh University, Oyama, Japan, 18 May 2019, 1–15.Google Scholar
Steele, Stacey (2015a) “Elderly Offenders in Japan and the Saiban’in Seido (Lay Judge System): Reflections through a Visit to the Tokyo District Court.” 35 Japanese Studies 223–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steele, Stacey (2015b) “Proposal to Reform the Japanese Saiban’in Seido (Lay Judge System) to Exclude Drug-related Cases: Context and Complexities from the Chiba District Court.” 16 Australian Journal of Asian Law 1–19.Google Scholar
Supreme Court of Japan (2019a) “Saban’in seido 10-nen no tōkatsu hōkokusho [General Report on 10 Years of the Lay Judge System],” http://www.saibanin.courts.go.jp/vcms_lf/r1_hyousi_honbun.pdf (accessed 6 July 2019).Google Scholar
Supreme Court of Japan (2019b) “Saiban'in seido no jisshi jōkyō ni tsuite (de-ta) ~ motto kuwashiku o shiri ni naritai kata e [About the Current State of the Lay Judge System (Data): For Those Who Would Like to Know More Detail],” http://www.saibanin.courts.go.jp/topics/09_12_05-10jissi_jyoukyou.html (accessed 6 July 2019).Google Scholar
Supreme Court of Japan (undated-a) “Saiban’in saiban no Jisshi jōkyō ni tsuite (seido shikō ~ heisei 30-nen 10-gatsumatsu: sokuhō) [About the Implementation of Lay Judge Trials (from Implementation to End October 2018: Summary)],” http://www.saibanin.courts.go.jp/vcms_lf/h30_10_saibaninsokuhou.pdf (accessed 6 July 2019).Google Scholar
Supreme Court of Japan (undated-b) “Saiban’in saiban no jisshi jōkyō ni tsuite (seido shikō ~ heisei 31-nen 4-gatsumatsu: sokuhō) [About the Implementation of Lay Judge Trials (from Implementation to End April 2019: Summary)],” http://www.saibanin.courts.go.jp/vcms_lf/h31_4_saibaninsokuhou.pdf (accessed 6 July 2019).Google Scholar
Supreme Court Secretariat Criminal Division (2019) “Heisei 29-nen ni okeru keiji jiken no gaikyō (ue) [Overview of Criminal Cases in 2017 (1)].” 71(2) Hōsō jihō [Legal Affairs] 263–442.Google Scholar
Takeda, Masahiro (2019a) “Genbatsuka no ippō de yūyo ōku [Toughening the Law with One Hand while Giving More Suspended Sentences with the Other],” Kyoto Shimbun, 23 March.Google Scholar
Takeda, Masahiro (2019b) “Utagawashiki wa muzai tettei [Ensuring a Not Guilty Verdict where there Is Doubt],” Fukui Shimbun, 10 March.Google Scholar
Terasaki, Akiyoshi (2007) “Fuchū Keimusho Shisatsu I’inkai no ichinen [A Year in the Life of the Fuchu Prison Visiting Committee].” 118 Keisei [Japanese Journal of Correction] 27–32.Google Scholar
The Peninsula (2018) “Ghosn Arrest Puts Japan’s Justice System in the Dock,” https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/04/12/2018/Ghosn-arrest-puts-Japan-s-justice-system-in-the-dock (accessed 8 January 2019).Google Scholar
Tokyo Web (2018) “Saiban’in kōho, shusseki 2-wari sennin tetsuzuki seido keigaika no osore [20% Attendance Rate for Lay Judge Candidates Poses a Threat to the Selection Process and System],” 11 November, http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/national/list/201811/CK2018111102000164.html (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (undated) “Introduction to Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture,” https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/OPCAT/Pages/OPCATIntro.aspx (accessed 11 February 2019).Google Scholar
Upham, Frank (1987) Law and Social Change in Postwar Japan, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Vanoverbeke, Dimitri, Maesschalck, Jeroen, Nelken, David, & Parmentier, Stephan, eds. (2014) The Changing Role of Law in Japan: Empirical Studies in Culture, Society and Policy Making, Cheltenham & Northampton: Edward Elgar.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
West, Mark (1992) “Prosecution Review Commissions: Japan’s Answer to the Problem of Prosecutorial Discretion.” 92 Columbia Law Review 684–724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, Matthew J. (2017a) “Assessing the Direct and Indirect Impact of Citizen Participation in Serious Criminal Trials in Japan.” 27 Washington International Law Journal 75–118.Google Scholar
Wilson, Matthew J. (2017b) “Japan’s Lay Judge System: Impact on the Judiciary and Society,” in Ageishi, K., Ōtsuka, H., Musashi, K., & Hirayama, M., eds., The Legal Process in Contemporary Japan: A Festschrift in Honor of Professor Setsuo Miyazawa’s 70th Birthday, Tokyo: Shinzansha, 369–84.Google Scholar
Yamamoto, Jōji (2003) Gokusōki [Diary from a Prison Window], Tokyo: Poplar Publishing.Google Scholar
Yang, Kenny (2017) “Trust the People or Business as Usual? An Examination of Lay Participation in the Japanese Criminal Justice System.” 42 University of Western Australia Law Review 69–87.Google Scholar
Yasuhara, Hiroshi, Nakagawa, Kanta, & Hasabe, Shinichi (2016) “Kyōsei kiso jiken shitei bengoshi no jitsumu keiken (shitei bengoshi no tachiba kara) (tokushū kaisei kensatsu shinsakai hō shikō go 7-nen [Practical Experiences of Designated Attorneys in Charge of Mandatory Prosecution Cases (from the Standpoint of a Designated Attorney) (Seven Years after the Special Amendment to the Prosecutor Review Commission Act)].” 67 Jiyū to seigi [Freedom and Justice] 53–9.Google Scholar
Yomiuri Shimbun (2015) “Kaisetsu Special: Kashitsu sekinin muzukashii risshō [Special Commentary: The Difficulty of Establishing Liability in Negligence],” 1 August.Google Scholar