Japan Panel Calls for Expanding Interrogation Recordings

   Tokyo, July 24 (Jiji Press)--An expert panel of Japan's Justice Ministry in a report on Thursday called for establishing a new forum to discuss an update of the criminal procedure law, including expanding the scope of cases subject to video and audio recordings of suspect interrogations.
   Mandatory recordings of law-enforcement authorities' interrogations were introduced in 2019 through a revision of the law prompted by a high-profile evidence-tampering scandal at the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office's special investigation division in 2010. The requirement covers cases independently investigated by public prosecutors and those to be handled in lay judge trials.
   The proportion of cases in which interrogations were recorded, however, has remained at 2-3 pct, and bar associations and other organizations are calling for an expansion of the range of cases subject to such recordings.
   The expert panel said that the interrogation recording system as a whole has no major problems. Meanwhile, it urged the ministry to take necessary measures through constant reviews of the law and its operation, noting that inappropriate interrogations were conducted during recordings in some cases.
   The panel also asked the ministry to consider setting up a new system to speed up criminal procedures in cases where suspects or defendants admit their guilt and to allow lawyers to be present at interrogations.

(2025/07/24-18:30)

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