142 Retrial Experts Blast Japan Govt Council Proposal

Tokyo, April 6 (Jiji Press)--Japanese retrial and wrongful conviction experts released a joint statement Monday opposing a government council's controversial proposal on retrial system reform.

The proposal by the Legislative Council, which advises the justice minister, is saddled with "serious problems," the group of 142 criminal law researchers and other experts said.

In February, the council advised that the scope of evidence investigative authorities will be ordered to disclose in retrial request proceedings be limited and that the prosecution continue to be allowed to appeal against retrial orders.

The government had planned to introduce a bill to amend the criminal procedure law accordingly. But it is now considering setting a certain limit to the prosecution's appeals, in response to calls from many members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for a complete ban on such appeals that they say could delay relief for victims of false charges.

In the statement, the experts demanded that evidence be shown to retrial petitioners and that the scope of disclosure orders be broad. They also opposed proposed penalties for using disclosed evidence for improper purposes, such as making it available to retrial supporters and the news media.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]