Japan's version of the plea bargaining system is supposed to be based on the idea that the involvement of top company executives in wrongdoing would be revealed by subordinate employees' testimony, as a way to crack down on crimes committed in an organized manner.
Therefore, the latest case, in which a company voluntarily reported its employees' wrongdoing to the special investigation squad and tried to avoid criminal responsibility, appears to run counter to the spirit of the system.
On the other hand, there have been only four cases in which Japanese investigative authorities have filed criminal charges over offering bribes to foreign government officials. Such bribery encourages corruption in other countries and undermines the international community's trust in Japan, but the difficulty in gathering evidence overseas has been a high barrier to filing cases.
It is significant that the investigation organization has made the first step to resolve such difficult cases. The system is also beneficial for companies because they can demonstrate a high level of ability to clean up their act.
However, it will be difficult for the public to understand the new system if this case -- the first to be carried out under the plea bargaining system in Japan -- ends up with top bosses "making their inferiors sacrifice themselves," and only rank-and-file employees being held responsible for criminal charges.
To what extent the special investigation squad can bring executives' involvement to light by obtaining companies' cooperation will be key to stabilizing the system.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
