What is Justice in

Japan?
A Comparative Analysis of the
Criminal Justice System in Japan
Crime and Criminal Justice in Japan: An Historical
Overview

 Chinese Law and Confucianism

 Chinese law is one of the oldest legal traditions in the world. In the 20th and 21st century, law in
China has been a complex mix oftraditional Chinese approaches and Western influences.
 Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the
Chinese philosopher Confucius
 The Tokagawa Period: Feudalism and the
Influence of the Shogunate and Samurai

 Meiji Restoration/enlightened rule: The Influence

of French, German, and Anglo-American Systems
of Justice
 Revolution, reform or renewal  was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to
Japan in 1868. The Restoration led to enormous changes in Japan's political and social
structure, and spanned both the late Edo period (often called Late Tokugawa
shogunate) and the beginning of the Meiji period
 The American Occupation
The Criminal Justice
System in Japan
 The Police
700- 1600 A.D.
 The history of police in Japan mirrored the European system before the
Meiji Restoration Period

 Japan had a dual police system composed of both public and private forces

 The Ministries of War, Justice, and Popular Affairs had police and judicial
responsibilities and it was the army that served in the capacity as a
professional police force

 During the feudal period, the police system was decentralized and the
Shogunate increasingly turned to samurai to enforce the law during
peacetime

 Mandated by the Taiho Code, this system was quite similar in operation of
the English Tithing System where various households in the community
were assigned the task of performing policing tasks
 The Police
Tokugawa Period (1600-1868)
 With the marked unification of Japan, a centralized police
organization was established

 Similar to the French, Japan created a secret law enforcement

agency to identify government corruption and to spy on those who
opposed Tokugawa rule

 Magistrates were established throughout the country and given the

authority to serve as police chiefs for their regions

 They created detective units, mounted and foot patrol units to

handle problems of crime
 The Police
Meiji Restoration (1868-1912)

 Kawaji Toshiyoshi was sent to Europe to study their police systems;

it, along with the ideas from the French and German police systems
were later adopted to create a police organization

 The Home Ministry, a highly centralized unit, was created to control

the police system throughout the country

 Police retained “quasi- judicial” and “quasi-military” functions while

incorporating organizational models of France and Europe

 Police became powerful during this period and used “heavy-handed”

tactics to control its citizenry; these tactics would not be tolerated in
U.S. today because of constitutional violations
 The Police
The American Occupation (1912-1948)
 This period is highlighted by two major reforms–
the adoption of a new Constitution which
restricted the powers of police

 The second reform was a decentralized and

autonomous model of policing

 The Home Ministry was abolished and

approximately 1600 independent forces were
created to serve the people of Japan
 The Police
The Police Law (1954- )
 During this period the Diet approved the Police Law

 This legislation abandoned the decentralized scheme

which proved to be ineffective method of policing

 Japan returns to a highly centralized system with local

autonomy with individual units at the prefectural level

 The Japanese retained it public safety commissions, but

the actual control of police rest with the National Police
Agency
The Police Kobans
 Organization
 The Police Act empowers the national government to
establish a central police organization to control and
supervise prefectural police organizations on matters of
national concern.
 The act also gives each prefecture the authority to carry
out police duties to “protect life, person and property”
and “maintain public safety and order” within its
prefectural jurisdiction. At both the national and
prefectural levels, public safety commissions have
administrative supervision over the police.
 Responsibilities
 Police responsibilities under the Police Act include
“protecting life, person and property; preventing,
suppressing and investigating crimes; apprehending
suspects; traffic enforcement; and, maintaining public
safety and order.“
 National Police Organization
 The National Public Safety Commission and the
National Police Agency constitute Japan’s national
police organization.
National Public Safety Commission
 The National Public Safety Commission exercises

administrative supervision over the National Police

Agency.
 While the Commission is under the jurisdiction of

the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister is not

empowered to exercise direct command or control. This
ensures the Commission’s independence and its political
neutrality.
System of Public Safety
Commissions
 National Police Agency
Organization and Authority
 The NPA is headed by a Commissioner General

 who is appointed or dismissed by the Commission with

the approval of the Prime Minister.

 The Commissioner General, under the administrative

supervision of the Commission, administers the agency’s

operations, appoints and dismisses agency employees
and supervises and controls prefectural police
organizations within the agency’s defined duties:
 The NPA duties include:
・ Planning and research
on police systems;
・ National police budget;
・ Review of national
policies on police;
・ Police operations in time
of largescale disasters and
disturbances;
・ Formulation and
implementation of plans
for emergency situations;
・ Measures against trans-
prefectural organized
crime;
・ Traffic regulation on national
highways;
・ International criminal
investigation assistance;
・ Operation of the Imperial Guard;
・ International emergency relief
activities;
・ Police training;
・ Police communications;
・ Criminal identification
・ Criminal statistics;
・ Police equipment;
・ Standards of recruitment, duties
and activities of police personnel;
・ Coordination of police
administration; and,
・ Inspection.
 Organizations Attached to the National
Police Agency
NPA-attached organizations include
 the National Police Academy,

 the National Research Institute of Police Science and the Imperial

Guard Headquarters.
 The National Police Academy provides training to senior police officers

and carries out academic research.

 I t has nine training departments, including Community Safety,

Criminal Investigation, Traffic and Security Training Departments.

 Experts in each department serve as instructors or researchers.

 Academy sub-units that provide advanced and expert training and

conduct research are: the Highest Training Institute for Investigation

Leaders, the Research and Training Center for International Criminal
Investigation and Police Cooperation, the Police Policy Research
Center, the Police Info-Communications Research Center, the Police
Info-Communication Academy, and the Research and Training Center
for Financial Crime Investigation.
The National Research Institute
of Police Science
 The National Research Institute of Police Science conducts research
in forensic science and applies the results of such research in the
examination and identification of evidence collected during police
investigations.
 It also conducts juvenile crime prevention and traffic accident
research. The Institute’s seven departments are: General Affairs;
First, Second, Third and Fourth Forensic Science;
Criminology and Behavioral Sciences; and, Traffic.
 The Imperial Guard Headquarters provides escorts for the Emperor,
Empress, Crown Prince and other Imperial Family members. It is
also responsible for the security of the Imperial Palace and other
Imperial facilities. It consists of the Imperial Police Administration,
the Imperial Security and the Imperial Escort departments.
Organization of NPA (2009)
National Police Academy
NRIPS and IGH
 Regional Police Bureaus
 Regional Police Bureaus (RPB) are seven RPBs nationwide.
They are located in major cities of each geographic
region. Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and
Hokkaido Prefectural Police Headquarters are excluded
from the jurisdiction of RPBs.
 Headed by a Director General, each RPB exercises
necessary control and supervision over and provides
support services to prefectural police within its jurisdiction,
under the authority and orders of NPA’s Commissioner
General.
 Attached to each RPB is a Regional Police School that
provides police personnel with education and training
required of staff officers as well as other necessary
education and training.
RPB
 Rank
Police officers are divided into nine ranks:
 superintendent general,
 superintendent
 supervisor,
 chief superintendent,
 senior superintendent
 superintendent ,
 Police inspector,
 assistant police inspector,
 police sergeant and
 police officer.
 Promotion
The police promotion process differs according
to rank.
 Promotion up to police inspector is based on

written examination and professional

accomplishment. In each case, however,
knowledge, skill and experience are taken
into consideration.
 Promotion to superintendent or above is

based on an evaluation of ability, experience

and work record.
 Pay and Welfare
 Because police work is inherently dangerous, police officers are paid
under a special pay scale. Their initial salary in the case of high
school graduates is, on average, approximately 15% higher than
that of administrative service personnel.
 Police officers who engage in dangerous or difficult duties, such as

criminal investigation, traffic control and vehicle patrols, are also

paid special allowances.
Recruitment
 Recruitment procedures of NPA police officers differ from those of

the Prefectural Police Headquarters.

 The NPA recruits from those who have passed the National Public

Service Examinations conducted by the National Personnel

Authority.
 These officers are assigned either to the NPA or the PPH as key

members.
 Educational Training
 Newly recruited prefectural police officers undergo an
initial training program consisting of pre-service training
course, on-the-job training, pre-service progress course,
and the actual exercise course.
 Educated training for high school graduates is 21
months (15 months for university graduates).
 High school graduates first attend a ten-month pre-
service training course at the prefectural police school (6
months for university graduates). During the course,
they acquire basic community policing knowledge and
skills.
 After graduation, they are assigned to a police station
for 3 months of on-the-job training under instruction of
a senior officer.
The Japanese Court
System
 The Courts
The Tokugawa Period (1600-1868)
 The history of Japan’s court system is brief because prior to the
Meiji Restoration, there were no courts or legal professions

 Prior to Meiji period, Japanese followed Chinese tradition of settling

disputes

 Attempts were first made to conciliate disputes privately before

turning the matter over to the court

 Next, a local administrator of the Shogunate, who also served as a

magistrate, would handle most matters

 The parties in both civil and criminal matters were not permitted
legal representation
 The Courts
Meiji Restoration (1868-1912)
 Significant changes occurred during this period; Japan’s first
Constitution is created and modeled after the French system and
later redrafted to model the German system

 The separation of powers is introduced and a Ministry of Justice is

created under the executive branch of government

 In 1872, the first judicial code is established and a judicial hierarchy

is created with legal offices of judge and procurarator and the legal
profession is also created

 Legal counsel representation is created for civil and criminal matters

 The Courts
The American Occupation
 Reform continues in the Japanese judiciary

 A new Constitution adopts the American model of the judiciary

which gave the courts complete autonomy than French and German
systems

 Judges given the power of “judicial review” over legislative acts

which was prohibited under old Constitution

 Courts could now adjudicate all litigation, including administrative

court matters between the state and a citizen

 Special administrative courts were abandoned under new

Constitution
Correctional System in Japan
 Corrections
Tokugawa Period
 Use of prisons existed during the feudal period, but also
been said to exist as early as 16th century

 Usually functioned to hold people prior to trial

 Since executions were commonly used long term or life

sentences were rare

 Prisoners were treated according to their social status

and housed in barrack-like facilities
 Corrections
Meiji Restoration/American Occupation

 Japan’s Bureau of Corrections is housed under the Ministry of

Justice and called the

 During this period Japan adopted a western style of punishment

 In 1888 aftercare hostels or halfway houses were opened for

released prisoners

 The Penal Code of 1908 was created using French and German
ideas of punishment

 During the American Occupation probation and parole was

introduced to Japan
Criminal Justice Issues in Japan
 Crime in Japan
 The Yakuza and Organized Crime
 Minorities and the Criminal Justice System
 The Role of the Confession and Apology
 Human Rights in Japan
Is there a Japanese Identity
in Criminal Justice?