Tag - courts

 
 

COURTS

Hideko Hakamata (center) and lawyers representing her younger brother, Iwao Hakamata, pose with a banner that reads "Iwao Hakamata verdict not guilty" as they leave the Shizuoka District Court on Thursday after the ruling was delivered.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 26, 2024
In rare retrial, Shizuoka court rules ex-boxer not guilty of 1966 murders
Iwao Hakamata, the world’s longest-serving death row prisoner, has maintained his innocence for decades.
Iwao Hakamata in March 2023 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture. Hakamata was convicted in 1968 over the fatal stabbings of a couple and their children two years earlier. He has pleaded his innocence throughout his trial, maintaining that his confession was coerced.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 25, 2024
In Japan, the road to exoneration takes decades
Defense lawyers’ extremely limited access to evidence and prosecutors’ right to appeal a court order for a retrial result in a long, drawn-out process.
Plaintiffs living in Tokyo and the neighboring city of Kawasaki had sued the government saying the Haneda routes posed risk of falling objects and aircraft crashes, as well as causing noise and exhaust gas pollution.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 20, 2024
Court rejects petition against low-altitude Haneda routes
Residents said that the routes posed the risk of falling objects and aircraft crashes, as well as causing noise and exhaust gas pollution.
Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are suing video game developer Pocketpair for patent infringement.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2024
Nintendo sues 'Pokemon with guns' maker for patent infringement
"Palworld" — which sold more than 5 million copies in just three days — features weapon-wielding player avatars and monsters that look similar to Pokemon.
Visitors take pictures of Tokyo's National Stadium before the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games on Aug. 8, 2021.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2024
¥300 million fine sought for Dentsu over Olympics bid rigging
The Tokyo District Court is slated to issue a ruling on Jan. 30 next year.
There are at least 17 murder retrials in which guilty sentences have been overturned in Japan since the end of World War II, and public prosecutors had appealed court decisions to hold retrials in 12 of the cases, resulting in delays in the completion of the retrials, according to sources.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 14, 2024
70% of murder retrials with acquittals delayed by prosecutors
Retrial decisions where prosecutors didn't appeal to the top court took a short amount of time to finalize.
Ayuko Kato (center), state minister in charge of building an inclusive society, and government officials bow their heads in apology to victims of forced sterilization, at a meeting to sign a compensation agreement in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 13, 2024
Forced sterilization victims to receive ¥15 million in compensation
The agreement covers those involved in 13 ongoing lawsuits at courts across Japan.
A court sketch shows Saki Sudo in her first hearing for her murder case at the Wakayama District Court on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 12, 2024
Former wife pleads not guilty to murder of 'Don Juan of Kishu'
The outcome of the trial may affect the treatment of inheritance money left by Nozaki, which is said to total more than ¥1.3 billion.
Plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking recognition as atomic bomb victims hold up a sign saying "Partial victory" in Nagasaki on Monday, after the Nagasaki District Court recognized some of them as hibakusha.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 10, 2024
Nagasaki court recognizes some plaintiffs as A-bomb victims
The court ordered the issuing of atomic bomb survivor's certificates to 15 of the 44 plaintiffs in the lawsuit, four of whom have already died.
A building housing the Tokyo District Court's Tachikawa branch in the city of Tachikawa
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 6, 2024
21-year-old gets 23 years over robbery-murder in western Tokyo
The case was part of a high-profile series of robberies across Japan allegedly committed by the same group.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida apologizes during a meeting with victims of forced sterilization, on July 17, following a Supreme Court ruling that recognized the now-defunct eugenic protection law unconstitutional.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 5, 2024
Forced sterilization settlement deal imminent
The government will agree to pay up to ¥15 million per plaintiff and ¥2 million per spouse in consolation money to bring an end to the lawsuits.
Keisuke Yoshida, 42, is accused of killing his wife by poisoning her with methanol at their home in Tokyo’s Ota Ward between Jan. 14 and 15 in 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 2, 2024
Ex-employee of Daiichi Sankyo denies poisoning his wife with methanol
Keisuke Yoshida, formerly a senior researcher at the pharmaceutical firm, said he had never thought of killing his wife.
Students participate in a mock lay judge trial session with a lawyer serving as a lecturer at Tokyo Metropolitan Mitaka Secondary School in March.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Sep 2, 2024
15 years on, Japan's lay judge system faces low participation
Fifteen years after its launch, Japan's lay judge system continues to grapple with a high refusal rate among candidates.
The Tokyo District Court's Tachikawa branch is hearing a trial involving former university student Issei Nakanishi, 21, who is accused of robbery and the manslaughter of an elderly woman in the city of Komae in western Tokyo in January 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 23, 2024
Ex-student denies manslaughter charge over Tokyo woman's death
Issei Nakanishi, 21, is alleged to have conspired with others to rob the 90-year-old woman in her home in the city of Komae, western Tokyo, in January 2023.
The Supreme Court has upheld a damages order against police for removing a heckler during a stump speech by then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2019.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 21, 2024
Japan's top court finalizes damages order over removal of heckler
Hokkaido police officers grabbed the heckler's shoulder and arm, moved her away from the location, and followed her for about an hour afterwards.
Nippon Paper Crecia's Scottie brand toilet paper (right) and Daio Paper's Elleair brand toilet paper
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 21, 2024
Tokyo court dismisses extra long toilet paper patent lawsuit
The court dismissed a lawsuit filed by Nippon Paper Crecia against Daio Paper for allegedly infringing on its patents for toilet rolls.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with plaintiffs of lawsuits over forced sterilization conducted under the now-defunct eugenic protection law last month at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 21, 2024
Japan shows settlement proposal for forced sterilization suits
The government will pay ¥15 million in consolation money to each plaintiff forced to undergo sterilization surgery and ¥2 million to each of their spouses.
Masahiro Nimura’s “Mommy” features interviews with family members of Masumi Hayashi (right), who was convicted of killing four people and poisoning over 60 others with arsenic-laced curry.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2024
‘Mommy’: A flawed but fascinating dive into a notorious murder case
Masahiro Nimura’s documentary raises reasonable doubts about a crime that gripped the nation over 20 years ago.
Kagoshima District Court has given a former Kagoshima Prefectural Police officer a suspended sentence for leaking investigative information.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 6, 2024
Former Kagoshima police officer found guilty of leaking investigation details
The judge said that the magnitude of the privacy violation was large as the officer shared information on personal criminal records and details of more than 100 cases.
Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi meets with victims of forced sterilization at the ministry in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 2, 2024
Victims of forced sterilization seek ¥15 million in compensation
Under a now-defunct eugenics law, the government allowed doctors to perform nonconsensual sterilization surgery and abortion on those with disabilities.

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