Tag - justice-ministry

 
 

JUSTICE MINISTRY

JAPAN / Society
Dec 26, 2014
Refugee recognition is overly slow, opaque, panel tells Justice Ministry
Japan's stringent refugee screening system should clarify the criteria used to recognize applicants and create safeguards to protect those considered vulnerable, an advisory panel tells the Justice Ministry.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 12, 2014
Matsushima stays course on death penalty but targets rape
Newly appointed Justice Minister Midori Matsushima on Thursday backed the death penalty as a deterrent against crime and said she planned to stiffen the penalty for rape and bolster immigration staff.
EDITORIALS
Sep 7, 2014
Updating the Civil Code
The brevity of Japan's Civil Code, compared with those in Western countries, has enabled flexible interpretations that the Justice Ministry is trying to standardize with proposed revisions that it has been working on for the past five years.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2014
Tanigaki vows internship revamp, foreign-friendly policies
Addressing the foreign press, Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki on Thursday reaffirmed his commitment to revamping the foreign trainee program, which critics say is rife with human rights violations.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 9, 2014
Ministry panel backpedals on promise to revamp justice system
Despite growing criticism of the country's notoriously opaque criminal justice system, a government panel tasked with revamping it has opted not to back the mandatory recording of interrogations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 2, 2014
Most criminal interrogations in Japan will remain opaque
At least 97 percent of criminal interrogations would continue to go unrecorded, under the terms of a draft being considered by a Justice Ministry advisory panel.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 11, 2014
Rights groups slam criminal justice reforms
Seventeen human rights and citizens' groups submitted a petition to the Justice Ministry on Wednesday slamming its proposal to reform criminal investigations as "far from enough" to improve transparency and prevent wrongful arrests.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2014
Panel calls for traineeship shake-up
The Justice Ministry is looking at ways to reform the long-criticized foreign trainee program, including whether to boost penalties for employers abuse trainees.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Apr 2, 2014
Knowing your rights can protect against fake cops
Safeguard yourself against an unwarranted public shakedown
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 22, 2014
Waiting for the death-penalty debate that never comes
The media breathlessly cover murder trials and profile suspects who face the death penalty, but once a sentence is handed down, they fall back.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2014
Only six asylum seekers accepted by Japan in 2013
Just six asylum seekers were granted refugee status by the government last year, the lowest number in 15 years, the Justice Ministry say Thursday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 2, 2014
Post-school life can bring visa complications
After The Japan Times published a Lifelines column on Dec. 15 that focused on visa issues, we received a lot of mail from readers asking about their particular individual situations. We would like to stress that it is always best to have a professional look at personal cases.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 27, 2014
A death in detention in Tokyo and a bitter belated farewell
What was the back story to this Ghanaian's death from pneumonia? A pre-existing condition? Or something the immigration authorities wanted hidden? Without an autopsy, there would be no answers to these gnawing questions. We already knew all we would ever know.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 10, 2014
Security put in spotlight after escape
The escape of an alleged rapist from a Kawasaki prosecutor's office interrogation room this week has highlighted the insufficient security steps at such branches as well as the apparent lax guarding of suspected criminals.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2014
Foreign delinquency presents special challenges
Sitting in a dimly lit room at a training school for juvenile delinquents in Tokyo, an 18-year-old Brazilian-Japanese boy reflects on his misdeeds.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Dec 25, 2013
Race-based ID checks in front of families send wrong message
I cannot accept the way Japanese police treat foreigners such as myself in public places — especially how they judge people by color and appearance. I have had several unpleasant experiences that suggest this is the case.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Dec 18, 2013
A secrets law for whom? Look who gets a free pass
Ancient Confucian scholars regarded law as a necessary evil, something used on lower orders of people who lacked the moral refinement to act righteously without prompting. Yet this just states a basic truth about law: It is something we do to other people. You and I know how to act properly, right? It's...

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’