Criminal justice system of Japan
system that governs Japan's response to offenses and offenders
Within the criminal justice system of Japan, there exist three basic features that characterize its operations. First, the institutions—police, government prosecutors' offices, courts, and correctional organs—maintain close and cooperative relations with each other, consulting frequently on how best to accomplish the shared goals of limiting and controlling crime. Second, citizens are encouraged to assist in maintaining public order, and they participate extensively in crime prevention campaigns, apprehension of suspects, and offender rehabilitation programs. Finally, officials who administer criminal justice are allowed considerable discretion in dealing with offenders.
In 2021, the Japanese police recorded 568,104 crimes, of which 8,821 were cases of murder, robbery, arson, rape, sexual assault, indecent assault, kidnapping, and human trafficking, which are designated as major crimes (jūyō hanzai, 重要犯罪) by the National Police Agency. The arrest rate, which indicates the percentage of unsolved crimes recognized by the Japanese police by 2021 for which the perpetrators were arrested in 2021, was 46.6%. Of these, the arrest rate for cases involving murder, robbery, arson, rape, sexual assault, indecent assault, kidnapping, and human trafficking, which are designated as major crimes, was 93.4%.
As of 2001, Japan had a conviction rate of over 99.8%, even higher than contemporary authoritarian regimes.
Scholars say the biggest reason for Japan's very high conviction rate is the country's low prosecution rate and the way Japan calculates its conviction rate is different from other countries. According to them, Japanese prosecutors only pursue cases that are likely to result in convictions, and not many others.
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