NIPPON


 

The Japanese government is planning to present to a ruling party meeting Wednesday a modified draft of a bill aimed at revising the country's retrial system, it has been learned.

Initially, the government considered proposing the revised draft Tuesday but is now set to delay the presentation by one day, due to a scheduling issue regarding a related meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party.

The envisaged retrial system overhaul is intended to speed up the rescue of victims of false charges.

In the modified draft bill to amend the criminal procedure law, the government plans to set limits on public prosecutors' appeals against court rulings to grant retrials to finalized cases, apparently in an attempt to soothe the LDP.

The original bill continued to allow prosecutors to challenge such rulings, but this drew anger from the ruling party, with many calling for banning such appeals.

At a meeting Monday, the LDP conducted hearings with Hiroaki Murayama and Yumi Kamoshida, both lawyers, and former judge Hiroyuki Nakagawa.