| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,000,000)
Fiscal Year 1999: ¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
Fiscal Year 1998: ¥900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000)
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| Research Abstract |
In Japan although there have been cases that an investigator informs a victim about the arrest of suspect and so on, and the Criminal Procedure Act provides that a notice of prosecution/non-prosecution to a complainant and so on and of reason of non-prosecution based on his/her demand, these measures have not been made use of sufficiently. On the police level in 1996 the notification to victim system was established and an investigator in charge offers information about whether a suspect is arrested or not, his/her identity and a situation of disposal to a victim of crime against body (murder, injury, robbery and so on), a hit-and-run case and a traffic accident with death. In addition in 1999 the Criminal Investigation Standard has been amended and new provisions on consideration of victim and notification to him/her have been established.
On the public prosecution level, the number of public prosecutors offices which introduce the notification-to-victim and others system has increased
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since 1991. In April 1999 the national standard has been established and begun to be used since then. According to it, when an investigation into victim or his/her relatives and others is made, a result of disposals, a date for public trial, result, settlement, appeal of trial are informed them if they want to know. In case of serious cases such as with death, even when an investigation into victim or others is not made, a public prosecutors office makes a notification under confirmation of existence of his/her/their desire.
Concerning the juvenile case it has been indicated that a victim can't know even an outline of his/her case. The Bill of Amendment of Juvenile Law, which was submitted to the Diet in 1999, Japanese national assembly, and under deliberation, has following provisions : names and addressed of jevenile and his/her legal representative and the text and grounds of decision can be notified under a request from a victim or others except for cases which are in danger of preventing a sound nurture of juvenile and not appropriate.
As to information on whereabouts and release of a prisoner serving his/her sentence in criminal institution, there is no systems or practices to inform such information to victims.
In sum I think it is problematic that criminal justice information is not disclosed but offered based on enclosure. We have to change our mind from a criminal justice agencies centered policy to a general public centered strategy, from a passive receive of information offered by criminal justice agencies to an active activity of recapturing information. Less
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