Crime, Punishment and Inconveniences in Japan’s Legal System
At this DN salon, a top Japanese litigation lawyer explains the dangers foreign executives should be aware of when they tangle with Japan’s legal institutions.
Many foreign business people in Japan find the country delightfully friendly and courteous. However, in the event of being investigated by a government agency for wrongdoing, they may find themselves under severe stress. Indeed, they will quickly realise that they do not have quite the same rights and protections as they might be used to in the US or Europe, says Kenichi Sadaka, a litigation lawyer at one of Japan’s leading law firms, Anderson Mori and Tomotsune. (His profile: http://www.amt-law.com/en/professional/profile/KNS)
For example, if an executive is taken in by the police, he or she may discover that bail is not an option while waiting for a public prosecutor’s decision on whether or not to indict. That could, and frequently does, mean sitting in police lock-up for 20 days – as former Toyota executive Julie Hamp learned to her cost in a notorious recent incident. Hamp’s experience was surely traumatic even if the prosecutor ultimately decided not to indict her.
The executive might also discover that his or her request for a lawyer to be present (one of the foundations of protecting the defendant in other countries) is at the discretion of the police and prosecutors’ office, and seldom allowed.
The surprises don’t end there. The concept of client-lawyer privilege is much vaguer in Japan than in the US or the UK. Thus, arguing that files should not be removed because they contain correspondence between the defendant and his lawyer is unlikely to get a favourable response.
Come and hear Kenichi explain how to protect yourself and also how this system came into being – partly because the Japanese tendency to grant enormous respect and obedience to the state and its organs tends to block vigorous challenges on abuses.
Kenichi’s talk will be enriched by his personal experience in major cases and his ability to communicate the inner workings of the system, whether of the cozy inter-dependence of the elite prosecutors’ office and the judges, or of the ambiguous role of the police, who sometimes compete against the prosecutors’ own investigative agents. He will discuss these factors when addressing Japan’s uniquely high conviction rate (over 99% of defendants put on trial are found guilty). This is an essential event for any executive doing business in Japan.
Date: June 21st 2016
Time: 7:00 – 8:30pm
Place: Ginza 1-13-8, 6F, Habiulu Ginza Building, Tokyo 〒104-0061
Fee: 4,000Yen (2,000Yen for Delphi Network members). Please bring the correct change. A selection of DN wines will be served.
Google map: https://goo.gl/maps/wTWTG
The entrance to the building is between Italian men’s clothes shop BELVA and Italian restaurant ISOLA BLU. There is also a gelato shop a 100 yards south-west of the building, so the whole street has rather an Italian theme. Please go to the back of the building for the lift, and press the intercom. Any problems call my mobile 080 205 70609 or Rosie’s on 070 2803 4217.
