The Code of Criminal Procedure was revised and a plea bargaining system will start June 1. The system should be repealed or suspended in implementation as a mechanism because it will not only pose a risk of false charge but also distort the society in which the first person who betrays could survive by way of returning to his/her social life.

HOTBED OF FALSE CHARGES MUST BE REMOVED

The plea bargaining is an agreement that allows a deal between a suspect or a defendant and the public prosecutor in which the former can use his testimony on crimes of other party, not of his own, in exchange for his acquittal or guilty of less serious offense over the original charge. It is said to be advantageous as it (1) discloses truths of the crime to indict the more important person(s) behind the scene, and (2) saves money and resources necessary for police investigation and trials.

Risk to Distort Society

However, the plea deal has disadvantages: (1) if a person testimonies for a purpose to escape his responsibilities for the crime, he endangers other innocent party to get involved or to coerce him/her to face penalty as the main guilty party instead of him/her, which constitutes a false charge, and (2) the person who confessed could gain benefits to survive leading a social life in spite of his betrayal, which leads to distorting the society.

Many of false charges have occurred when the police and prosecutor authorities work along their own picture of the criminal act, which is combined with accomplices who act on the urge of public prosecutors. Judging from this fact, those who cooperate with the authorities tend to gain reward and those who reject can be fallen to be a victim of misrepresentation or be accused of a more serious offense.

They say preventive measures are taken to avoid false charges; (1) an attorney must be present together with the prosecutor and a defendant in making written documents, and (2) a confessor will be punished for perjury if he/she gives false evidence.

However, a person who perjured tries to evade penalty through justification. The prosecutor is powerful enough and so the false statement is easily acknowledged as true. Consequently unjust accusation comes out.

Evidence is the key

The plea bargaining is implemented significantly in the United States where (1) the number of crimes is big, (2) underground organizations work behind, and (3) the jury system is unstable to acknowledge facts. Under these circumstances the criminal justice system works to make the judiciary more efficient and to reveal huge evils.

In Japan, however, the number of crimes is not as big as that of the United States. Many of them are exposed and crimes are established on the objective evidences.

The key to identify crimes lies in collection of objective evidence and scientific proof. (1) Travelling by car and train is monitored by the N System (the automatic number-plate recognition) and surveillance cameras installed in specific places, (2) telephone communications can be checked by eaves-dropping and transmission records, and (3) money remittance can be traced by information technologies. Most of people’s behaviors are far better controlled than we think.

Under these circumstances a plea bargaining system should be abolished or suspended in implementation as it is unnecessary to give the police and the public prosecutors office powerful mandate that will pose risks to deform truths.

May 22, 2018