Order in the Court: Explaining Japan’s 99.9% Conviction Rate

Nearly all criminal cases that go to trial in Japan end in a guilty verdict. Two veteran legal scholars explain how Japan came to have a 99.9% conviction rate and examine the issues facing Japanese prisons.

Edited January 1, 20206 yr by Opl

8 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

If that was an electoral statistic for an elected government, it would rightly be said it was a rigged and corrupt system. 

 

Well the figure is a little misleading.  There is little doubt the Japanese legal system is brutal. That being said one reason the conviction rates are so high is they choose to prosecute fewer cases and take mostly open and shut cases. Prosecutors in Japan don't take chances as this will affect their career negatively.

 

Given the strength of Japan's laws if you committed murder and they might be able to prove it, they would be better off getting you on a much lesser charge if it is a sure case. There are no short sentences in Japan and there is no such thing as easy time there. 

 

Also because the crime rate is so low in Japan they have a lot of resources to investigate what little crime there is. I lived there 10 years and believe me I avoided doing anything illegal.

 

 

 

9 hours ago, gamesgplayemail said:

 

I don't care. I just tell that when someone is kept in jail he should be informed why, and nobody in this world deserves to be separated from is wife for no reason. Japanese are simply idiots to accept all the BS that is decided for them !

He wasn't in jail but even if he had been he would have known exactly why!

24 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Well the figure is a little misleading.  There is little doubt the Japanese legal system is brutal. That being said one reason the conviction rates are so high is they choose to prosecute fewer cases and take mostly open and shut cases. Prosecutors in Japan don't take chances as this will affect their career negatively.

 

Given the strength of Japan's laws if you committed murder and they might be able to prove it, they would be better off getting you on a much lesser charge if it is a sure case. There are no short sentences in Japan and there is no such thing as easy time there. 

 

Also because the crime rate is so low in Japan they have a lot of resources to investigate what little crime there is. I lived there 10 years and believe me I avoided doing anything illegal.

 

 

 

Might be the case, you’ve lived there so have a greater understanding of what goes on there, but a 99.9% conviction rate and the rules regarding interrogation, as mentioned in op, suggest that all is not well in the judicial system. 

I know several guys who work offshore that keep 2 copies of their passport for logistic reasons.  They often have one off getting stamped with a visa while they need to keep the other in possession at all times.

 

Could it be that simple?  He gave his lawyers one to hold, and slipped the country on another? 

 

Getting out of Japan seems pretty straightforward with a private jet.  Transiting through Turkey and landing legally in Lebanon would be a little more challenging.  

 

20 hours ago, Christie Paul said:

Now he will expose the Japaneses legal system for what it is and the stench will have repercussions far and wide.

Let us dream this could splash over to other countries in the Asia region.

"where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied," Ghosn, 65, said in a brief statement on Tuesday."

Yeah....Lebanon is so pure and honest!

17 hours ago, khunken said:

99.9% of those charged with a crime are convicted.

I never realised that Japan's legal system was so badly distorted. No wonder he fled

One has nothing to do with the other, unless one is totally ignorant of how Japanese society works, as well as how life works.

10 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

I lived there 10 years and believe me I avoided doing anything illegal.

I was married to one, so did I ????

Edited January 2, 20206 yr by Nyezhov

18 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

Probably he has a Christian christian name.

He's part Lebanese, said by many to be very good business people.

"Ghosn's grandfather was Bichara Ghosn, a Maronite Christian" from his Wiki.

Had to be an inside job...a page right out of Thailands book...tho my thoughts are Ghosn is being railroaded. Prob cost him BANK to pull it off, but well worth it! Net worth $120 mil and his bail cost him about $9-10 mil.

Edited January 2, 20206 yr by Skeptic7

21 hours ago, impulse said:

I know several guys who work offshore that keep 2 copies of their passport for logistic reasons.  They often have one off getting stamped with a visa while they need to keep the other in possession at all times.

 

Could it be that simple?  He gave his lawyers one to hold, and slipped the country on another? 

 

Getting out of Japan seems pretty straightforward with a private jet.  Transiting through Turkey and landing legally in Lebanon would be a little more challenging.  

 

Seemingly he was allowed, by the court, to keep a 2nd French passport with him in a 'locked case with the key held by his lawyers'. Sounds foolproof to me.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/02/carlos-ghosn-prepares-to-speak-as-japan-comes-to-terms-with-saviour-who-fled

I am so proud of him teaching them what they really are ❤️