Japan to Put Retrial Appeal Ban in Reform Bill's Main Text

Tokyo, May 12 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Justice Ministry is expected to include a ban on appeals by prosecutors against court orders granting retrials in the main text of a planned bill, sources said Tuesday.

The clause to ban such appeals "in principle" would be included in the main text of the draft bill to revise the Code of Criminal Procedure for retrial system reform, not in a supplementary provision as in an earlier draft, reflecting calls by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The ministry decided that it has to accept the LDP's demand in order to submit the bill to the Diet, the country's parliament, during the current session ending in July, according to the government and ruling party sources.

The revised draft is expected to be presented at a joint meeting of the LDP's Judicial Affairs Division and Research Commission on the Judiciary System on Wednesday.

The previous draft, submitted to the LDP on Thursday, was not approved as party lawmakers questioned the effectiveness of including in a supplementary provision a ban on prosecutor appeals without "sufficient reasons."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]