Justice minister to ask legislative panel to discuss statute of limitations

Sunday 25th October, 06:55 AM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

12 Comments

BBLeo at 12:05 PM JST - 25th October

A very simple solution is to: 'ABOLISH STATUE OF LIMITATIONS'. Why protecting killers? Lawmakers are not suffering but victims of the crime are.
Reicheru at 12:23 PM JST - 25th October

It would be "inappropriate" to extend the statute of limitations on murder upon discovery of certain and overwhelming evidence.The criminal justice system of Japan just doesn't have the ability to "fully respond" by doing its job and fulfilling its duty to society. I mean, why arrest/prosecute these evaders of justice, when it is more convenient to simply acknowledge the ineptitude Japanese institutions of justice? 仕方がない -- it is the Japanese way!
gmfranc at 03:28 PM JST - 25th October

Yet another round of discussion to mask inaction, indecision and the inability to accept accountability - a smoke screen of nattering to hide incompetence. I notice from the story that the request is not to review the statute, but to "discuss how to review" it. The ranks of the bureaucracy are supposed to be populated by Japan's best and brightest, graduates of Tokyo and Kyoto Universities mostly. If this is so, why does so little of that best and bright manifest itself. Instead we see a system of embedded mediocrity where the only criteria of success seems to be how long a real decision can be held off or how long a real action can be delayed. When decisions are finally made or action finally taken it seems that it is designed primarily to protect the reputations of politicians and bureaucrats rather than to truly address issues.
Hephatsheput at 03:58 PM JST - 25th October

"the only criteria of success seems to be how long a real decision can be held off or how long a real action can be delayed."

That is true talent in Japan. That's what they're trained to do.
ilcub76 at 09:26 PM JST - 25th October

How can there be a statute of limitations on an act like murder? The victim is dead.... forever, but if the perpetrator hides out for long enough, he or she can get away scott-free? I'd like to know who came up with this idea in the first place. That person obviously didn't know anyone who had been murdered. Sometimes the Japanese system is so weird.
Sarge at 09:37 PM JST - 25th October

"How can there be a statute of limitations on an act like murder?"

Especially when there's no statute of limitations on stealing bicycles! Cripes, I'm gonna have to keep all these bikes under wraps forever?
Klein2 at 10:23 PM JST - 25th October

Statutes of limitation protect criminals?

They protect society. Isn't that just blindingly obvious?

Maybe murder should not have one, but it is hard to think of another crime that should have one. The only reason this is getting reviewed is that some high-profile cases have exceeded theirs. Similarly to bankruptcy, it seems to fly in the face of logic, but society would fall apart if we spent all of our efforts forever and ever trying to right every perceived wrong with all our available resources.
USNinJapan2 at 12:17 AM JST - 26th October

Klein2

...society would fall apart if we spent all of our efforts forever and ever trying to right every perceived wrong with all our available resources.

You're presenting one extreme, that the authorities will continue to dedicate limited resources to pursue every and all unsolved cases. That isn't realistic nor practical and would indeed be counter-productive. Instead these serious cases that go unsolved after a set amount of time should be treated just like deserters are treated by US law enforcement. If a service member is declared a deserter his case information is provided to various law enforcement agencies, immigrations, etc. but they do not actively conduct a manhunt for every case. Instead they just wait until he comes in contact with the authorities in one way or another like during a traffic violation, an accident, at the DMV, etc. to arrest him. They don't waste limited resources actively searching for him but they are willing and legally able to apprehend him if he ever pops up on the grid. If these rediculous statutes of limitation are abolished in Japan the police would actually be able to do something with all those cold case files they have collecting dust in their archives.
Alan at 06:36 AM JST - 26th October

It would be tragic if a new technology (like DNA profiling) or new evidence allowed the police to identify the culprit in an old case, only to find that they were unable to prosecute because of the statute of limitations. Where's the benefit to society in that?
timorborder at 12:18 PM JST - 26th October

Heard about the this one the other day and it was quite a surprise. Indeed, one of the biggest criticisms of many people vis-a-vis Japan's legal system is that the statute of limitations exists for capital offenses.

Anyway, I hope this leads to an abolishing of statutes for serious crimes. Those who commit such acts should not be allowed to whether out a period and then get off. Rather they should be hunted relentlessly, with a view to feeling the full weight of the law.
Reicheru at 05:34 PM JST - 26th October

**Klein2 ** Maybe murder should not have one, but it is hard to think of another crime that should have one.

Tell that to all of the women who have been raped, children who have been molested and abducted... any victim of violent crime.

Maybe you can't think of another crime that shouldn't have a SoL, but criminals have never had any difficulty coming up with new ways to offend and shock human conscience or break laws.

Crime can be a lifetime behavior until someone puts an end to it. Allowing violent criminals to stay on the lose is unacceptable by any civilized society's standard.
USNinJapan2 at 07:37 PM JST - 26th October

Reicheru

Crime can be a lifetime behavior until someone puts an end to it.

Agreed, but I also believe that even if the individual (like Roman Polanski) committed a serious crime once and never did again and lived the life of a saint they should be pursued for the crime they did commit and brought to justice. If there has to be a statute of limitations then let it be until the end of a criminal's natural life.