This book explains Japan’s unique Prosecution Review Commission (PRC) which is composed of eleven lay people selected randomly from voter registration lists. Each of the country’s 165 PRCs reviews non-charge decisions made by professional prosecutors and determines which cases should be reinvestigated or charged. PRCs also provide prosecutors with general proposals and recommendations for improving their policies and practices. The book analyzes the history and operations of the PRC and uses statistics and case studies to examine its various impacts, from legitimation and shadow effects to kickbacks and mandatory prosecution.
More broadly, this book explores a problem that is common in many criminal justice systems: how to hold prosecutors accountable for their non-charge decisions. It discusses the potential these panels have for improving the quality of criminal justice in Japan and other countries, and it will appeal to scholars and students studying prosecution and democracy, criminal justice, criminology, lay participation, justice reform, and Japanese studies.
Author(s): David T. Johnson
Series: Palgrave Advances in Criminology and Criminal Justice in Asia
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 220
City: Cham
Preface
Acknowledgments
Praise for Japan’s Prosecution Review Commission
Contents
List of Tables
1 Prosecutors and the Prosecution Review Commission
The Problems with Prosecutors
Power
Discretion
Misconduct
Ideology
Accountability
Inertia
Role Ambiguity
Three PRC Frames
Victims
Impunity
Democracy
Conclusion
2 PRC Origins and Operations
Origins
The PRC Law of 1948
The PRC Reform of 2009
Operations
A Japanese Grand Jury?
A Japanese Special Prosecutor?
Conclusion
3 PRC Impacts
A Bird’s-Eye View
Kickback Patterns
Kickback Effects
A Surge of Complaints
Conclusion: Legitimation, Kickbacks, and Shadow Effects
4 Mandatory Prosecution
Akashi Pedestrian Bridge Case
JR West Amagasaki Rail Crash Case
Okinawa Unlisted Stock Fraud Case
Rikuzankai Incident
Senkaku Islands Ship Collision Case
Tokushima Town Mayor Assault Case
Golf Instructor Quasi-Rape Case
Judo Student Severe Injury Case
Tomei Road Rage Internet Libel Case
TEPCO Nuclear Meltdown Case
Conclusion
5 The TEPCO Prosecutions and Acquittals
Prosecutions
Trial
Shaky Prediction?
No Duty to Shut It Down?
Absolute Safety Not Required?
What If?
Reactions to the Acquittals
Analysis
Prosecution and Truth
Comparisons
The Under-Prosecution of White-Collar Crime
The Limits of the Criminal Sanction
6 Lessons
A Failure to Prosecute Rape
Lessons
It Is Possible to Check Prosecutors’ Non-charge Decisions
Origins
Legitimation Effects
Kickback Effects
Shadow Effects
Few Mandatory Prosecutions and Convictions
The Challenge of Controlling White-Collar Crime
Knowledge Gaps
Citizen Satisfaction
PRC Dangers
Prosecution and Democracy
Implications for Other Countries
Reform in Japan
Index
