LDP Forgoes Approving New Retrial Reform Draft Bill

Tokyo, May 7 (Jiji Press)--Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday forwent approving a modified draft of a Justice Ministry bill that bars public prosecutors from appealing court orders to start retrials "in principle."

The modified draft of the criminal procedure law revision bill aimed at revamping the nation's retrial system stipulates in a supplementary provision that prosecutors must not appeal against retrial decisions but adds that this does not apply when there are sufficient reasons to overturn such court rulings. An earlier draft, shown to the party last month, stated that appeals are possible when there were sufficient reasons.

The latest draft was presented to a joint meeting of the LDP's Judicial Affairs Division and Research Commission on the Judiciary System on the day, but many attending lawmakers demanded that the ban on appeals be included in the main text of the planned bill.

"We are all but aligned on banning prosecutors' appeals in principle, but we need to coordinate with the government on whether to make this a supplementary provision or a main provision," former Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki, who chairs the LDP commission, told reporters after the meeting.

He said he will call on the Justice Ministry and the Cabinet Legislation Bureau to consider whether the ban can be included in the main text.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]