international japan judiciary
Carlos Ghosn and the Japanese judiciary system
<p>On New Year's Eve, less than 2 weeks ago, the businessman Carlos Ghosn escaped from bail restrictions in Japan (&quot;jumped bail&quot;) and fled to Lebanon.
He then criticized the Japanese judiciary system where</p>
<blockquote>
<p>guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied, in flagrant disregard of Japan’s legal obligations under international law and treaties it is bound to uphold.</p>
<p>I have not fled justice, I have escaped injustice and political persecution</p>
</blockquote>
<p>he said, and added he had interrogations</p>
<blockquote>
<p>that lasted for up to eight hours a day without a lawyer present.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/08/carlos-ghosn-nissan-boss-japanese-justice" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Guardian</a> adds</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In Japan, the accused can be held for 23 days without charge – this is almost indefinitely renewable as judges normally give prosecutors the benefit of the doubt.</p>
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<p>My questions are more about law in Japan, that has been highlighted thanks to M. Ghosn's case.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Does the law as it is written in Japanese books allows the justice system to &quot;behave&quot; as it did/does? (or its vague description allows some interpretation that is beneficial to the prosecutors)</p>
</li>
<li><p>Based on &quot;<em>in flagrant disregard of Japan’s legal obligations under international law and treaties it is bound to uphold</em>&quot; - provided this is true - what kind of recourse would have an accused in Japan going through a similar ordeal?</p>
</li>
</ul>

<ol>
<li>Yes. <a href="http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=3364&amp;vm=02&amp;re=02" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 60</a> allows detention for 60 + 30 days where “there is probable cause to suspect that the accused may conceal or destroy evidence”  which is a threshold which an imaginative investigator and a compliant court can always meet. This does appear to be per charge so it can easily be made indefinite.</li>
</ol>

<p>Japan’s is by no means unique in having laws that can be abused in that way - I’m sure all countries do. The written text of the law is no protection to the accused if the culture is such that courts interpret it the way the prosecutor wants.</p>

<ol start="2">
<li>Which obligations would those be? International law doesn’t apply within countries , only between them. Whether and when any treaty japan signs and ratifies impacts Japanese domestic law is a matter for Japan.  How the broad principles of international law and even the specific articles of treaties translate into domestic law is a matter for each county. Without knowing this and what specific provisions of which treaties are being discussed it’s hard to know if the statement is true.</li>
</ol>
