Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Law and the regulation on wiretapping, each enacted in 2016, have been completely implemented at the start of this month, turning a brand new web page within the reform of the crook justice system that was caused by way of a first-rate scandal in 2010 related to prosecutors tampering with evidence in a criminal case and then seeking to cover it up.
Video recordings of the interrogation technique of suspects — supposed to ensure transparency and prevent fake confessions — have turned out to be obligatory in cases where problems to laying charges and people are independently probed by prosecutors. Meanwhile, restrictions on wiretapping in the crook probe were eased as part of the steps to provide police and prosecutors with greater investigative tools, including the advent of plea bargaining final year, in exchange for the tighter policies on interrogations.
What stirred up the debate turned into an ordeal related to the murder of a girl in Tochigi Prefecture, wherein more than seven hours of the recorded interrogation of the accused were proven in court. In 2016, the Utsunomiya District Court sentenced the accused to life in prison. While the accused stated he was led using prosecutors to falsely confess to killing the sufferer falsely, the judges decided that the video of his interrogation supported the credibility of his confession.
However, a 2018 Tokyo High Court ruling inside the appellate trial overturned the decrease court’s decision, casting doubt on its ability to choose the credibility of the confession completely based on the video. The court said that while the video may additionally assist decide that the accused voluntarily made the assertion, it can not rule out the possibility that the defendant became telling a lie, noting that it was unlawful for the lower court to locate him guilty directly at the strength of the video — even though the excessive courtroom still sentenced him to a existence time period based on circumstantial evidence. Rules need to be established for the use of interrogation video recordings as proof in court. What also became discussed within the crook justice gadget reform — but without accomplishing an end to all of the questions — was a rule on the disclosure of evidence within the possession of investigators.
