Flawed criminal justice reform will only bloat the power of police, warns Labornet TV

Victims of false accusations are angry at the government’s proposal for legal revisions to be debated in the current session of the Diet. Justice Ministry's Legislative Council Special Subcommittee on criminal justice reform was established in 2011 to identify extensive measures including audiovisual recording of interrogations to minimize the possibility of wrongful convictions by police and prosecutors. However, the “reform” recommended in the council’s final report produced last year, will result in recording only 3% or less of interrogations of criminal cases while dubious investigative methods that may easily be abused by the police are likely to expand. In the Labornet TV program aired on Feb. 11, ADACHI Masakatsu, a professor emeritus of Kanto Gakuin University, and lawyer YONEKURA Yoko discussed the flawed criminal justice reform, particularly the expansion of wiretapping and introduction of plea bargaining based on anonymous tips. ”The law on wiretapping enacted in 1999 has various stipulations that control the investigative agencies and thereby protect the secrecy of communication. Police investigators, for example, have to go to the offices of telephone companies. However, the proposed revision will allow investigators to have telephone companies send the concerned data to them, making wiretapping much easier. In addition, conspiring illegal activities will become criminal offenses even if they are not actually committed. Thus, the revisions will seriously undermine the whole system of the criminal code,” said Adachi. ”To my regrets, Japan Federation of Bar Associations is not opposed to the revisions and, hence, major media do not report on them. It is quite likely that the proposed revisions will be approved in the Diet by spring this year while the majority of general public are kept uninformed. We must raise public awareness through a citizens’ campaign,“ urged Yonekura. （By M）   Photo: Adachi, left, and Yonekura    Video  

警察のやりたい放題社会でいいのか！～レイバーネットTV「盗聴法拡大」に警鐘
 

 い ま冤罪被害者が怒っている。冤罪をなくすためと導入される「取り調べの可視化」はわずか3％ なのに、逆に盗聴拡大・密告取引の導入で警察が焼け太る法律改 悪が、今国会で準備されているからだ。2月11日のレイバーネッ トTVで足立昌勝さんと米倉洋子さんが警鐘を鳴らした。足立さん「1999年の盗聴法の時 は、通信の秘密を守るための厳しい規制があった。警察も通信傍受にNTTに 出向く必要があったが、今回はデータを送信してもらい警察内で自由に傍受でき る。また実行しなくても相談しただけで捕まる“共謀罪”も準備中で、刑法のあり方が根本的に変質してしまう」。米倉さんは「情けないが日弁連も反対してい ないので、マスコミも書かない。知らないうちに今春、国会通過もありうる。市民運動を拡げよう」と呼びかけた。（M）
　＊写真＝ゲストの足立昌勝さん（左）と米倉洋子さん