Revisions to three laws, including the Criminal Procedure Laws, enacted by the Diet late last month were prompted by a call to prevent false charges in criminal trials, in particular by electronically recording the entire interrogation of suspects. This call was triggered by the 2009 indictment of Atsuko Murai, a section chief of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, on a forgery charge and her acquittal in 2010. But the enacted amendments not only give more power to investigative authorities but could also lead to more false charges. The Diet should review the problematic features of the amendments and take steps to correct them.

The amendments consist of three pillars: mandatory electronic recording of interrogations in certain types of crimes, and the introduction of plea bargaining and a widening of the scope of wiretapping as investigative tools.

The full electronic recording of interrogations is meant to prove that confessions by suspects have been made voluntarily, instead of being led or forced by investigators during closed-door interrogations — the source of many wrongful charges and false convictions. But the amendments make it mandatory for police officers and prosecutors to video-record interrogations in cases that will be handled by lay judge trials and cases that are independently uncovered by prosecutors — which account for a mere 3 percent of the nation's criminal cases. Investigators are also allowed to forego recording interrogations if they determine that they cannot obtain meaningful statements even if they interrogate suspects.