Overview
- Examines a unique form of lay participation in Japanese criminal justice
- Discusses the potential that panels have for improving the quality of criminal justice in Japan and other countries
- Include a discussion of high profile 'mandatory prosecution' cases where the PRC overruled the prosecutors
Part of the book series: Palgrave Advances in Criminology and Criminal Justice in Asia (PACCJA)
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Table of contents (6 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
More broadly, this book explores a problem that is common in many criminal justice systems: how to hold prosecutors accountable for their non-charge decisions. It discusses the potential these panels have for improving the quality of criminal justice in Japan and other countries, and it will appeal to scholars and students studying prosecution and democracy, criminal justice, criminology, lay participation, justice reform, and Japanese studies.
Reviews
—David Nelken, Dickson Poon Law School, King’s College London, UK
“This book provides unprecedented insight into the complex dynamics of democracy in a fascinating country where crime rates are low and conviction rates high. The focus is Japan’s Prosecution Review Commission, which is the principal mediator between different visions of democracy and the main actor in that country’s criminal justice system – the prosecutor. David Johnson takes us skilfully beyond simple explanations in this clear, balanced, and empirically grounded analysis of an understudied institution which asks citizens selected by lottery to check the non-charge decisions of professional prosecutors. The result is highly recommended for readers interested in understanding the complexities of Japanese criminal justice and the relationship between prosecution and democracy.”
— Dimitri Vanoverbeke, Professor of Law and Society, University of Tokyo, Japan
“This is the first systematic and comprehensive book on Japan’s Prosecution Review Commission (PRC) written in English in the world. The PRC was established in the postwar occupation, to enhance democracy in Japanese criminal justice. It is composed of eleven lay people selected randomly from voter registration lists, and its main mission is the review of prosecutors’ non-charge decisions. This book explains the PRC’s history and impacts and identifies lessons for Japan and other countries that are based on original research that is rich in facts and analysis. It brilliantly combines scholarly reflections on the PRC with practical suggestions for making prosecution more democratic. It is a major achievement.”
— Satoru Shinomiya, Professor of Law, Kokugakuin University, Japan
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Japan's Prosecution Review Commission
Book Subtitle: On the Democratic Oversight of Decisions Not To Charge
Authors: David T. Johnson
Series Title: Palgrave Advances in Criminology and Criminal Justice in Asia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19373-6
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Law and Criminology, Law and Criminology (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-19372-9Published: 02 January 2023
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-19375-0Published: 03 January 2024
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-19373-6Published: 01 January 2023
Series ISSN: 2946-2878
Series E-ISSN: 2946-2886
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVIII, 208
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations, 1 illustrations in colour
Additional Information: Revised and expanded version of “Kensatsu Shinsakai: Nihon no Keiji Shiho o Kaeru ka” [copyright David T. Johnson, Mari Hirayama, and Hiroshi Fukurai], published by Iwanami Shinsho in Tokyo, 2022. All rights reserved.
Topics: Asian Criminology, Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law, Victimology, Prison and Punishment, White Collar Crime, Crime and Society