The government has reportedly given up a plan to have the Diet enact within the current session a bill to enable Japan to join a multilateral treaty to combat international organized crime, but it intends to introduce it again in the next Diet session. The bill carries a danger of undermining a national legal principle that no criminal liability is established unless a crime is actually committed. It also could impair freedom of thought, speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution. It must be substantially rewritten before it is resubmitted.
The bill would introduce the "crime of conspiracy," which could be applied to anyone who joins others in planning a crime even if the crime is not actually carried out. At present, arrests can be made at the conspiratorial stage for eight exceptionally grave crimes, including treason.
The government says the introduction of the "crime of conspiracy" is a step toward Japan's joining the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, which was adopted in 2000 mainly to combat crimes by international criminal organizations, such as the smuggling of drugs and firearms, and human trafficking. Japan signed the convention in December 2000 but has yet to ratify it.