The series of incidents involving former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn raises questions over the validity of prolonged detention under Japan's criminal justice system, which has also drawn global attention.
The Tokyo District Court has dismissed a request by the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office to extend his detention and granted Ghosn's release on bail at an early stage.
In addition, the court shortened by two days the period of his detention that was requested by prosecutors over the aggravated breach of trust involving a Nissan-affiliated dealership in Oman.
Worried about the court's actions having an impact on the investigation, prosecutors retorted that the court was giving in to external pressure. The court, however, has shown in recent years to be adopting a cautious stance regarding detention.
In the past 10 years, the rate of cases in which courts nationwide denied prosecutors' requests for detention has increased to 5.9 percent from 1.1 percent.
The rate of cases in which the accused who have denied involvement in crimes were released on bail before the first trial also increased to 8.9 percent in 2016 from 4.4 percent in 2005.
"I think this tendency will further increase in the future," said Mikio Miyoshi, a law professor at Sophia University who is a former Tokyo High Court judge. "With this case as a lesson, prosecutors should reconsider how their investigations should be conducted."
There has been international criticism, mainly from Western media, calling Ghosn's detention of about four months as "hostage justice." However, the detention period in the Japanese criminal justice system is not necessarily too long.
In France, a preliminary judge, who serves a similar role to Japan's prosecutor, files formal charges and detains suspects in pretrial proceedings.
According to a French Justice Ministry document from 2015, the average detention period was six months in cases such as embezzlement and breach of trust. Of these cases, 15.8 percent were of detentions extended over one year.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
