Modern Reform of Criminal Procedures in Japan
The author studies the modern reform of Japanese criminal court procedures. He examines the stages of reforming Japanese criminal procedures in their historical aspect from 1947 to the present. Five modern blocks of changes in the criminal procedure legislation of Japan are studied. The author shows that Japanese legislation does not correspond to the international norms on human rights during the detainment of persons suspected of committing crimes. This regards the conditions of custody, the length of interrogations, the absence of an attorney during an interrogation, the absence of bail as a pre-trial restriction. The author notes that the objective of reforms is to ensure the transparency of crime investigation and enumerates the novels of reforming Japanese criminal proceedings, including the institute of pre-trial agreement, obligatory video-recording of the interrogations of suspects, stricter control over phone calls and others. It is concluded that certain democratic steps have been made towards overcoming the closed character of the Japanese system of justice.