Japan has long been notorious for extremely drawn out trials that seem to take forever to reach a verdict.
Legal proceedings in serious criminal cases can drag on for years. In the two Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attacks of 1994 and 1995, for example, only one of the 13 death sentences handed down by the courts has been finalized so far.
But all that may change with a Criminal Procedure Law revision that took effect Tuesday which is expected to speed up the legal system and expedite court proceedings through new pretrial procedures.