Comparative Criminal Justice Systems

1. Comparative Criminal Justice Systems Japan: Examples of Effectiveness and Borrowing Chapter Ten Reichel

2. Question Why is Japan an example of effectiveness and borrowing?

3. FACTS Low crime rates (although increasing, approximately 2210/100,000 in 2001) Low imprisonment rate (approximately 49/100,000) Moderate clearance rate (crimes reported to police - approximately 43% in 2000) High conviction rate (99% of those coming before a judge) and high imprisonment rate (99% of those convicted). REASONS Liberal use of informal tactics by police, i.e., apologies. Imprisonment is not considered a useful means for achieving the rehabilitative goal. A crime is cleared when the police tell the prosecutor the crime has been solved – no arrest is necessary. Most cases are not contested due to confessions; half the prison sentences are suspended. Effectiveness?

4. Borrowing “Eastern morals, Western Science” Adaption versus Adoption “Japanese Spirit” How do these issues relate to the concept of borrowing?

5. Correlates of Japanese Cultural Patterns Explain each of the following correlates. How do they relate to each other in Japanese culture? Homogeneity Contextualism and Harmony Collectivism Hierarchies and Order

6. Japanese Law Since 1946, the Japanese legal system has been grounded in both civil and common legal traditions in the context of local custom – informality.

7. Law by Bureaucratic Informalism “Taking individuals as the principal social unit denies that society is composed of groups, each of which is greater than the sum of its members.” Explain how collectivism and informality address this statement? How would this relate to “bureaucratic informalism?”

8. Policing Interdependent concepts that affect low crime rates include: • Deployment of police officers: reliance on static deployment through fixed koban and chuzaisho posts. • The citizen as partner: the working partnership and interaction with citizens. • Policing as service: the police emphasis is on service, i.e., the bi-annual residential survey.

9. Judiciary • Compromise, conciliation, and the importance of the apology • Police officers: apologies and confessions • Lawyers: prosecutors and suspended sentences; defense attorneys and the accused • Judges: inquisitorial; decide facts and determine the sentence (concurrent) • Informal settings over courtroom activities; no plea bargains • Lawyer and judges choose career paths following the European model.

10. Major Issues What is the impact of the followingconcepts on the Japanese legal system? Right to Counsel in Japan Privacy Impartial Jury Confessions

11. Court Structure Supreme Court High Courts District Courts Family Courts Summary Courts

12. Court Structure • Summary courts: minor civil and criminal cases, no grand jury or preliminary hearing – indictment through an information. Neither prosecutor nor defendant are present. Sanctions are fines: both violent, i.e., bodily injury and assault, and nonviolent, i.e., embezzlement and traffic violations. • Modified public trials: streamlined trial for non-contested less serious offenses (larceny). Summary or district court. • Regular trials: district and family courts – courts of first instance or, if prosecutor or defendant are not satisfied with the result of summary procedure. Noncontested or contested.

13. Court Structure(cont’d) • Family courts: jurisdiction limited to domestic relations, juvenile delinquency, and cases in which adults violate child welfare laws. • District courts: civil and criminal cases (except crimes of insurrection, family court adult criminal cases and summary crimes). Hearings are by one judge or three judge panels (both family and district courts). Civil legal tradition. • High courts: intermediate appellate courts; three judge panels; appeals come from family, district, and summary courts. • Supreme Court: one chief justice and 14 justices; cases on appeal are heard by five justices; case concerns on constitutional issues are transferred to the Grand Bench where all 15 justices sit.

14. Judgments The most frequent sentence from district and family courts is one of imprisonment with or without labor. The rate of 99% is typical. More than half of the prison sentences are suspended. Prison sentences for homicide, robbery, and drugs are suspended with and without probation, just as sentences for larceny, gambling, and road-traffic violations.

15. Corrections Japan has a low incarceration rate and a low percentage of persons under community supervision – the majority of offenders are returned to the community without correctional supervision, i.e., the Japanese shared sense of shame and embarrassment. The emphasis is on retribution and rehabilitation.

16. Probation and Parole • Probation and parole are the primary means for keeping the imprisonment rate low. • Probation is a complement to a suspended sentence. Requirements for the offender include: 1) the sentence is for 3 years or less or a fine of 200,000 yen or less; 2) no prison sentence in the last five years; and, 3) the offense was not committed during a previously ordered term of probation. • Parole is not a right – only the head of the prison may request parole on behalf of the prisoner. Certain conditions must be met for both probation and parole – similar to the U.S.

17. Prison Sentences • Persons sentenced to adult prisons are first classified and then placed in one of 80 different institutions. • Classification to a particular prison includes the following criteria: age, sex, foreigner, type of penalty, term of sentence, physical or mental disorders, criminal tendency, and frequency of imprisonment. • There is a significant interest in providing all prisoners with work experience, both forced labor (94%) and unforced labor (93%).

18. Prison Sentences(cont’d) • Prisoners spend 40 hours a week either working or spending time in counseling or academic programs. • Prisons in Japan are more productive and progressive than those in America. • Sentences range from fines to death. • Of all cases that come before the prosecutor, less than 3% will end up in prison.

19. Questions With their low crime rates and low incarceration rates, do you think Japanese ideas of criminal justice are transferable to the United States? If so, in what way? Which is more important, group or societal interests as is the case in Japan, or individualism as portrayed in the U.S.? Explain.