The Tokyo High Court has awarded four people who were charged with assault as minors compensation of about 1.7 million yen each, effectively acknowledging their innocence in the case.

The high court on Wednesday reversed a February decision by the Hachioji branch of the Tokyo District Court, which had rejected compensation on the grounds their innocence had not been established, saying a person who has not been acquitted by a court cannot seek redress.

The high court's decision is final as the government cannot file an objection to it.

The four were accused of assaulting five students on March 1, 1993, near Chofu Station on the Keio Line when they were under 20.

Throughout a lengthy court battle, they continued pleading not guilty and prosecutors eventually dropped the charges against them in 1997. The four filed for state compensation in February 1998.

Judge Kunio Harada said he made the decision after examining documents and evidence submitted to public hearings on the case.

The trial was never completed because prosecutors dropped the charges.

Harada said that if prosecutors had finished examining witnesses, the four would never have been found guilty.

"I have to say there is sufficient reason for the four to be acquitted," Harada said.

He ruled they should be compensated for being held at a juvenile reformatory during the trial and awarded 12,500 yen each for each day they spent in detention.

They were held for 130 to 138 days.

A lawyer representing the four said the ruling is significant as it widens the interpretation of the Criminal Compensation Law.

Under the conventional interpretation, those who have not been acquitted are compensated only if their innocence is clarified.