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While the Japanese judicial system is under intense international scrutiny as to the treatment of defendants in the Carlos Ghosn saga, there is a good side for critics: the growing number of suspects who are on bail.
The former chairman of Nissan Motor Co., 65, was released Thursday night after receiving a 500 million yen bond.
The prolonged detention of Ghosn (108 days between November 19 and March 6, when he was released on bail for the first time), as well as treatment, including interrogations in the absence of his lawyers have triggered criticism from the international community about the country 's legal system. "Justice of the hostages."
Historically, if a suspect did not plead guilty, the courts were unlikely to grant bail, generally complaining about the prosecutor's claims, including those in the Ghosn case, that he was likely to manipulate evidence.
Critics criticized such a practice, claiming that it created an environment that would lead to false confessions.
However, Ghosn's parole is following a broader trend as courts are increasingly likely to approve bail.
The approval rate for bail in Japan has increased from about 15% in 2007 to about 32% in 2017, according to the Japan Bail Support Association, an organization that helps people with difficulties. to obtain the payment of a deposit.
Mikio Miyoshi, professor of law at Sophia University of Tokyo and former judge at the Tokyo High Court, attributed the increase in the approval rate of bail to the overhaul of the judicial system started in 1999.
The country was experiencing a shortage of criminal defense lawyers at the time, said Miyoshi, but because of the reform, the number of defense attorneys has increased dramatically. More and more cases now have clear and detailed release conditions in court. Such a tendency has made it easier for the court to grant bail, Miyoshi said.
According to the Supreme Court, the number of lawyers has increased from 25,000 in 2008 to more than 40,000 in 2018.
"At the time, few lawyers wanted to take penal measures because they were difficult and unprofitable," he said.
But as the number of lawyers has increased, this has prompted younger and more efficient lawyers to handle such cases due to a more competitive environment, he said. "So, for example, in a criminal case, more and more lawyers are willing to work hard to secure their freedom by applying for bail," he said.
Yasuyuki Takai, a lawyer and former prosecutor, told the Japan Times, during Ghosn's first release in March, that his bail reflected the country's changing legal system.
Japan, like many advanced democracies, released a suspect on bail shortly after his arrest, he said. But prolonged detention became a problem in the late 1970s in the wake of a major political scandal, establishing a questionable practice, he said.
However, in recent years, judges have been more inclined to grant bail, as they seek primarily to determine if there is a significant risk that the accused will destroy evidence, at whether the suspect recognizes his guilt or not, he said.
Nobuo Gohara, a lawyer and former attorney of the Tokyo District Attorney's Office, explained that at a trial in 2014, the Supreme Court had ruled that it was illegal to dismiss an application for release under bail simply on the basis of the possibility that a suspect alters the evidence.
After that decision, the bail rate went up, he said.
Gohara said the country's judicial system was slowly catching up but eventually the international standard.
"The country has no choice," said Gohara. "The system has been abnormal until now."
Nevertheless, the conditions of the deposit can be strict.
In addition to the conditions of his release in March, which limited the use of the phone and the computer, Ghosn is no longer allowed to see his wife, Carole, without court authorization. . The national media has suggested his involvement in the latest accusation against him, an allegation that Ghosn's defense team denies.
Carole Ghosn was not the subject of any charges and Mr Ghosn called the restriction "cruel and unnecessary".
"We love each other very much, she has answered all the questions of prosecutors in court and she has done nothing wrong," Ghosn said in a statement shortly after his release.
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