I’ve heard people say that lawyers only choose to prosecute cases that they know they might win, but isn’t that true for lawyers in basically any country, anywhere?
EDIT: I meant conviction rate in the title.
In: Other
Because Japan isn’t fcking soft and their judicial system isn’t influenced and/or swayed by failed liberal social plans and judicial policies.
Actual ELI5:
If you only prosecute cases very likely to lead to a conviction, more of them will lead to a conviction.
If you prosecute more “weak” cases, including some that are less likely to lead to a conviction, more people will be acquitted or found not guilty.
There are also cultural factors.
Important distinction, the *conviction* rate is very high in Japan but this number is disputed because of how it is measured.
By comparison the US federal conviction rate is reported as high as 95% but this number varies because they may include or exclude cases that plead guilty or are settled out of court.
The key factor in Japan is that a lot of cases are dropped long before they go to court. They only go to court if they know they have a 99% chance of getting a conviction.
The Japanese system also doesn’t operate on the concept of ‘Innocent until proven Guilty” and they are extremely harsh on defendants. They do however have a provision in the Constitution against self incrimination (like the US 5th amendment)
There is strong emphasis placed on confessions in court and Police are known for extracting false confessions from defendants under duress. They can also hold defendants for extended periods, bail is rare, and are known for treating them very harshly.
The rules over there are also different, evidence is often thrown out and defendants have a much harder time defending themselves.
Keep in mind that high conviction rates are not unique to Japan. For instance the Americans also have an absurdly high conviction rate in their federal criminal system of 99.6%. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/14/fewer-than-1-of-defendants-in-federal-criminal-cases-were-acquitted-in-2022/
“isn’t that true for lawyers in basically any country, anywhere?” No, not exactly.
We (US lawyer/former prosecutor) will take cases that we are pretty sure we will win but the defense would never go to trial on a 100% loser (for their side) because the plea offer is usually lower.
Beyond that, Japan has this strange phenonium where the citizens basically view it as if the state brings charges the person is obviously guilty of the crime and the state is always right …to the point there was a famous prosecutor who said years after the fact that he knew the person was innocent but he condemned him to death anyway. I wish I remembered the name, I saw it on a documentary.
I’ve seen some documentaries about this and it seems like Japan has some very questionable human rights practices with its criminal Justice system. Holding people for up to 23 days because they won’t confess, then extending that hold just because they can is one of the more dubious items I learned about. Being browbeat into a confession during the hold period through grueling interrogation sessions with cops screaming at people is another. Oh, and your lawyer can’t guide you through the process because your access is limited. Good luck getting help from your embassy as well…you’re on your own!
Couple these statistics with the general xenophobia of Japanese society and it’s a wonder anyone visits there at all. I would love to visit Japan, but the idea of being subjected to their criminal justice system just seems like a crazy risk. I’m not even talking about violent crime or other misbehavior. For example, I have adhd and I take a stimulant medication. If I brought that along with me, even with a prescription, I might be subject to police action because those medicines are illegal in Japan. I would have never thought of that issue had I not read about an American who was held over it. How many other little things are there I could inadvertently do wrong? Why risk your freedom so that you can go be sneered at and randomly attacked by Japanese people.
Wait, you don’t believe that people are just randomly attacked in Japan? Read this:
https://soranews24.com/2018/06/02/butsukariya-men-who-purposely-crash-into-women-when-walking-through-japans-crowded-stations/amp/
Not good, folks.
In America, the police have 24 hours to lay a charge. In Japan, they have 23 days. If they don’t get you to sign a confession they probably will let you go. This doesn’t count as a non-conviction because they never charged you so there is no “failure”. So they’ve just redefined the terms to make it look like the system really works. Police will only charge if they’ve got the evidence to lead to a confession. And don’t worry. For those 23 days you’ll be woken up randomly and coerced the whole time to confess. Fun fact: the jails are over crowded now. You’ve really got to try hard to get jail time.
This video talks about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4Z0xCyfKSI
Basically, if the defendant doesn’t admit they did it (cause they are actually innocent), the police can essential hold them indefinitely and mentally torture them until they confess. One of the cases shown in the video is a women who was prosecuted for killing her daughter in a fire, which turns out was an accident, despite the fact that she maintained her innocence, they still convicted her and she did jail, it took an outside group to help her get out.
Ok, I actually have insight into this. I took a class when I was at UCLA with a visiting legal scholar/professor from Japan – he was American but had lived in Japan for decades and taught at one of the top Japanese law schools and was heavily involved in reforming parts of the Japanese legal system such as their equivalent BAR exams. This topic wasnt the exclusive focus of the class but we did discuss this.
According to him, the biggest factor was a difference in cultural and societal understanding of the legal system and how lawyers work etc. In Japan, if you’re accused of a crime, the societally expected next step is for you to admit guilt, apologize and show remorse and/or pay reparations to injured parties, and if you do these things, you typically receive significantly very, very significantly reduced sentences or penalties. Lawyers also have very different roles culturally – they often focus much more as mediators or facilitators of this process, and not the advocates or defenders we expect in the American system.
Long story short, the conviction rate in Japan being so high is not for the same reasons as a place like Russia (blatant corruption/authoritarianism). Although there may be some elements of authoritarianism/excess deference to authority, it has a lot more to do with cultural/collectivist attitudes.
I am Japanese. The situation is simple. The inability to prosecute without concrete evidence prevents the wrongful prosecution of innocent individuals. Is it right to indict and try innocent people? No, it’s incorrect. The low conviction rate in some countries is evidence that innocent people are being prosecuted and brought to trial
If you were wrongly arrested, which would you prefer? Would you want to be prosecuted and go to trial despite being innocent?
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