Police/law enforcement in Japan

[Ranb]

I was reading a Wikipedia page about a Japanese man who was recently released from prison after spending years on death row. A link lead to this article http://www.hoover.org/publications/policy-review/article/6522 which said in part;

Suspects may be held and questioned without access to a lawyer for up to 23 days. Even after that, police are not required to let defense counsel sit in on their clients’ questioning, and the defense is not entitled to look at all the evidence in the files of police and prosecutors. The great pressure on police and prosecutors to produce confessions and the great latitude to question suspects behind closed doors have yielded recurring credible allegations of physical and psychological abuse during interrogations.

Sounds very rough compared to the USA. Did this article get it right?

I used to make ocasional trips to Yokosuka in the past with the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. I entered the country with my passport and in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement. Prior to departure from the US we all get a bit of training on Japanese customs and laws; long story short, "don't you dare get into trouble". While little things can be taken care of by kicking the offender out of the country, I've heard the Navy turns over the real trouble makers to the Japanese police.

Ranb

 

[BStrong]

I was reading a Wikipedia page about a Japanese man who was recently released from prison after spending years on death row. A link lead to this article http://www.hoover.org/publications/policy-review/article/6522 which said in part;


Sounds very rough compared to the USA. Did this article get it right?

I used to make ocasional trips to Yokosuka in the past with the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. I entered the country with my passport and in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement. Prior to departure from the US we all get a bit of training on Japanese customs and laws; long story short, "don't you dare get into trouble". While little things can be taken care of by kicking the offender out of the country, the Navy turns over the real trouble makers to the Japanese police.

Ranb

I've heard stories, and I believe that being incarcerated is bad enough, but by all accounts Japan has the strictest penal system in the first world.

Chuck Zito has talked about his first-hand experience, and he said the 4 months they had him was worse than the 5 years he did here.

 

[Puppycow]

It does seem to be a rather concerning system from the perspective of the rights of the accused. The conviction rate seems to be darn close to 100%. It doesn't affect most members of the US military stationed here, however, because of the SOFA (former US Navy myself). Those accused of rape or murder are exceptions though:

U.S. Navy sailors convicted in Okinawa rape

Both men admitted their guilt, but the defense had argued that such a long sentence would be excessive.

I think most all convictions here involve an admission of guilt. You have to wonder though, considering the interrogation techniques used.

Although most crimes committed by U.S. military personnel in Japan are handled by military courts, they can be prosecuted in Japanese courts in cases that occur off base and are deemed to be particularly serious, such as murder and rape.

People such as myself no longer fall under SOFA, so I try to keep my nose clean. You may be able to speak to someone from the US Embassy, but I'm not sure.

Maybe this latest case will cause them to reconsider the rights of the accused? I hope so. I think they have been pretty certain in the past that they always get the right perp, but that certainty may not be entirely justified. There hasn't been a Japanese version of The Innocence Project here that I'm aware of. In the US, DNA has been used to show that some people were convicted for crimes they didn't commit. I wonder what a similar investigation in Japan would reveal.

 

[tyr_13]

I know when I was in Japan I was told more than once that if the police said or asked anything of me that I don't speak Japanese. Especially if I do. I don't speak any. Anything you say, even if you didn't mean to say it, will be used against you. Even if the words get close.

I can't remember if Japan uses the adversarial system, or inquisitional system.

 

[Puppycow]

I know when I was in Japan I was told more than once that if the police said or asked anything of me that I don't speak Japanese. Especially if I do. I don't speak any. Anything you say, even if you didn't mean to say it, will be used against you. Even if the words get close.

I can't remember if Japan uses the adversarial system, or inquisitional system.

Yeah, I don't know if that's necessarily the best advice. If they find out you actually do speak Japanese (in my case they would if they checked up on me with the company I work for, etc.) then they would know I had lied. My family, my neighbors, my coworkers, everyone who knows me here knows I speak Japanese.