70% of retrials in murder cases with acquittals are delayed by the public prosecutor

Since the end of World War II, at least 17 murder trials have been reopened in Japan and convictions have been overturned. In 12 of those cases, prosecutors appealed the court decisions, causing delays in the retrial process, sources said.

Of the 12 cases, the Fukawa case in Ibaraki Prefecture took the longest to decide on a retrial, according to data from the Japan Bar Association and other sources.

In this case, the Tsuchiura Branch of the Mito District Court decided in September 2005 to retry two men who had been sentenced to indefinite prison terms for murder and robbery. However, the verdict did not become final until the Supreme Court rejected the prosecutor's appeal some four years and three months later.

Meanwhile, in June 2012, a decision on the retrial of the murder of a then-employee of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TOC) was made within only about two months because the prosecution did not appeal to the Supreme Court.

Among other things, the Shizuoka District Court is scheduled to decide on September 26 on the retrial of 88-year-old Iwao Hakamata in the 1966 murder case. It took about nine years for the final decision on the retrial of Hakamata to be made.

“Appeals by prosecutors make it even more difficult to reopen cases, so a change in the law is needed to prevent such moves,” said Prof. Tsukasa Saito of Ryukoku University.