The following is a guest post by Sayuri Umeda, a senior foreign law specialist who covers Japan and various other countries in East and Southeast Asia. Sayuri has previously written posts for In Custodia Legis on various topics, including Disciplining Judges for “Bad Tweets”, Engagement under Japanese Law and Imperial House Rules, Is the Sound of Children Actually Noise?, How to Boost your Medal Count in the Olympics, South Korean-Style, Two Koreas Separated by Demilitarized Zone, and many more.
According to a news article’s headline, former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn’s arrest in Japan on November 19, 2018 shocked the auto industry. As Ghosn has been detained in Tokyo for several weeks, the Japanese criminal legal system has been discussed and criticized by Western media. This post describes Japanese law concerning detention and interrogation.
- Arrest and Detention
Mr. Ghosn was arrested on charges of financial misconduct on November 19, 2018. A brochure of the Supreme Court of Japan, Outline of Criminal Justice in Japan 2016, briefly explains the Japanese criminal justice system. The Constitution of Japan (1946) requires the issuance of a judicial warrant specifying the alleged offense as a condition for an arrest. (Constitution art. 33.) Under article 199 of the Japanese Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), “sufficient probable cause to suspect that an offense has been committed by a suspect” is also required for an arrest. When a prosecutor arrests a person, the prosecutor must “immediately inform the suspect of the essential facts of the suspected crime and the fact that the suspect may appoint defense counsel.” (CPC art. 204.)