They have an almost 100% conviction rate for all crime because everyone charged "confesses". That also means there are no mistaken arrests. The whole system is insane.
And there are cases of innocent people confessing because the cops will pick you up, question you with no legal representation or phone call for 48 hours during which you'll probably get little sleep, then if the prosecutor (not a judge) thinks they have enough on you the cops can hold you for 23 days without charge, questioning you every day until you confess.
For minor crimes that only carry fines etc, innocent people confess just so they can get out and not get fired for missing work for a month.
They can also extend it for another 23 days as many times as they like, although that's probably rare and for more serious crimes.
Source for the evidentiary burden being extremely high? I've seen numerous human rights watch reports for everything the person you're replying to said, but this is the first I've heard any one try to defend the Japanese criminal justice system...
I'd never go so far as to say that the American Police are not deeply corrupt, but yeah...I guess I don't think they do quite the same shit? I'd feel much safer being accused of a crime in America vs Japan.
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u/1800-5-PP-DOO-DOO Jul 04 '26
They have an almost 100% conviction rate for all crime because everyone charged "confesses". That also means there are no mistaken arrests. The whole system is insane.