September 2, 2016
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2016 August 31 - September 6 [POLITICS]
Japan bar association: gov’t should not move ahead with ‘crime of conspiracy’ bill |
The Abe government plans to submit a renamed “conspiracy bill” to the upcoming extraordinary Diet session. The previous bill had been scrapped three times under fierce public criticism.
The JFBA statement points out that the government made various amendments to the bill, including changing its name and limiting punishable offenders to organized crime rings but the ultimate purpose of the bill, which is to punish collusive acts, remains unchanged. The statement also points out that it is difficult to come up with a clear definition of an organized crime ring.
Furthermore, the JFBA in the statement noted the possibility that the scope of punishment will be expanded without limit because under the bill, even an act of withdrawing cash from ATMs can be regarded as crime preparation. The JFBA criticized the government for increasing the number of offenses covered by the revised bill to 600 while the previous bill was applicable to up to 200 offenses.
The statement stresses that the bill will totally go against the fundamental principle of Japan’s criminal law system and highly infringe on people’s basic human rights. Citing the fact that the government emphasized the need to enact legislation on conspiracy before ratifying the UN Convention on Transnational Organizational Crime, the JFBA said that the introduction of the new legislation is not essential for the ratification of the Convention.
Past related articles:
> Gov’t again considers presenting re-named conspiracy bill [August 27, 2016]
> Anti-conspiracy law will allow emergence of increase in police surveillance [December 15, 2013]
> Citizens and Dietmembers band together to scrap 'crime of conspiracy' bill [July 27, 2005]
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