Japan Press Weekly

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2013 December 11 - 17 [POLITICS]

Gov’t seeks to impose severe penalties for conspiracy

The government is reportedly considering creating regulations against acts of jointly plotting crimes by amending the Organized Crime Punishment Law.

The government plans to submit a bill to revise the law in the ordinary session of the Diet to be convened in January next year, some government officials revealed.

Similar bills were submitted to the Diet three times in the last ten years. However, facing fierce oppositions from the general public, the bills were abandoned every time.

The government argued that tough rules on conspiracy are needed to prevent cross-border organized crimes, such as illegal drug and human trafficking, and to fight against terrorism.

However, the bills proposed in the past dealt with not only international organized crimes but also various other activities not related to criminal intent.

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations expressed its concern over the establishment of the regulations by saying, “There is a possibility that the range of punishment could be extended without limit. It would change the system of criminal law.”

Tanaka Takashi of the Japan Lawyers Association for Freedom commented on this matter as follows:

The government-proposed rules could be applied to the plotting of a crime without an actual criminal act. Such rules clearly go against a principle of the criminal law in Japan that only the act of crimes is punished. What is terrifying is that the scope of the law on criminal conspiracy could be extended arbitrarily.

In addition, police will need to wiretap or invite betrayal in order to arrest conspiracy suspects. Using the legislation as a pretext, police will use the law more frequently to conduct unfair investigations. The government move to introduce severe penalties on “conspiracy” should be blocked.