Satsujin - En jämförelse mellan det japanska och det svenska straffrättssystemet vid mordfall

Sammanfattning: No industrialized democracy has a lower crime rate than Japan. Nor does any other country have such high conviction rate. How is this possible? The following paper deals with the investigation, the procedural phase and the execution phase of a murder case in Japan. This will be compared with the corresponding Swedish procedure. At first, the paper describes the arrest and decisions concerning the detention time in Japan and how it differs from Sweden. The Japanese prosecutor’s right to suspend prosecution and the power of the prosecutor in the Japanese criminal justice system will then be presented. The introduction of lay judges (saiban-in) in Japan is also described and is compared with the jury system in USA and the lay judges in Sweden. This reform meant greater insight in the Japanese justice system and also decreased the power of the prosecutor in some ways. It is followed by an explanation of the importance of confession in Japan and why it is considered as the “king of evidence”. The death penalty and imprisonment for life are the strictest punishment in Japan and Sweden, the controversy surrounding the death penalty and the estimate and adjustment that precede the conviction. At last the adjustments, made between arrest and verdict is carried out, are analysed. These adjustments are often between efficiency and the legal rights of the individual. In Japan, efficiency is more important than it is in Sweden. This is at the expense of the legal rights of the individual and some reforms may be considered. On the other hand, Japan has in fact succeeded with the crime prevention and Sweden may have a lot to learn from Japan as well.