Japan Press Weekly

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2020 May 13 - 19 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Gov't gives up its plan to pass bill regarding top prosecutors' age of retirement during current Diet session

The Abe government on May 18 decided to abandon its plan to pass a bill allowing the Cabinet to extend the mandatory retirement age of specific senior prosecutors during the current session of the Diet, carrying the bill over to the next session.

In response, opposition parties, including the Japanese Communist Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, held a meeting of Diet affairs committee chairpersons and confirmed their intent to continue joint efforts until the bill to revise the Public Prosecutors' Office Act is withdrawn.

JCP Chair Shii Kazuo, in an online news conference he appeared on along with other opposition party leaders, said, "A big wave of citizens' protests on the Internet received extensive coverage on TV networks and in major newspapers. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations, former senior officers of the Public Prosecutors Offices, and former Tokyo District special investigators also raised their voices in protest against the bill. The prevention of the bill's passage during the ongoing Diet session is an important achievement. I sense the potential power of Japanese democracy."

"However," he added, "the postponement of Diet deliberations on the bill does not solve anything. We must have the bill repealed."

The government-proposed revision bill includes "a special clause" which makes it possible to extend the mandatory retirement age of specific senior prosecutors at the sole discretion of the Cabinet. Shii pointed out that in the Diet discussions, Justice Minister Mori Masako was asked about criteria for "the special measure", but she could not give any clear answer.

Shii in the online press conference pointed out, "The government has yet to work out the criteria. We cannot afford to give them a blank check."

The protest movement against the revision bill was triggered by the sudden decision made by the Cabinet to extend the retirement age of Superintending Prosecutor of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office, Kurokawa Hiromu.

Shii in the press conference said, "The Public Prosecutors' Office Act has no stipulation concerning the extension of the retirement ages of prosecutors, but the Cabinet decision was made on the extension of Kurokawa's retirement age in complete disregard of the law. The Diet is a place to enact and enforce laws. So, what the Cabinet arbitrarily did constitutes an infringement of the legislative authority and of the principle of the separation of powers. Kurokawa still holds the post of superintending prosecutor due to the decision the Cabinet made contrary to the law. This decision must also be reversed."

Past related article:
> Abe Cabinet decision supposedly seeks to exert political influence over prosecution officers [February 5, 2020]