POINT OF VIEW/ Noriko Moriya: Give sex crime victims a choice on trial system

The nation's first sex crime trial under the citizen judge system ended in September in Aomori Prefecture. The defendant, accused of robbing and raping two women in two separate incidents, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The sentence was in line with the prosecution's recommendation, probably because the judges took into account the testimonies of the victims.

However, my impression was that little consideration was given to the feelings of the victims. I heard they were seriously troubled that the case attracted wide media attention and felt hesitant to testify in court.

But what I found even more problematical is the fact that there has been hardly any debate on the propriety of trying sex crime cases under the citizen judge system.

Victims of sex crimes have expressed apprehensions about the current system and raised objections. Sex crimes are serious offenses that violate the fundamental humanity of victims and are called "murder of the soul."

It is natural that victims who are already devastated at the atrocity committed against them feel hesitant to go to court if it means their privacy would be further violated.

In the Aomori case, measures were taken to protect the privacy of the victims from spectators in the gallery but not from the citizen judges. Under the existing system, as is the case with professional judges, personal information about victims, such as name and age as well as detailed accounts of the damage, are also revealed to citizen judges.

In Aomori, the victims testified from a separate room through a video conference system. Although they were hidden from the gallery, the lay judges could see their faces through a monitor placed before them.

Since the citizen judges are legally required to keep their cases confidential, I don't think they would thoughtlessly divulge secret information. But the danger of information leaks cannot be ruled out.

Criminal trials are part of a system that is meant to also benefit crime victims. Methods that could infringe on the privacy of victims and further hurt them through court proceedings must be abolished.

Prejudice against sex crime victims is deep-rooted in Japanese society. It is not uncommon for victims to become targets of unjust defamation, causing secondary damage. The fact is, a large number of victims do not even report the crime or file criminal complaints for fear their privacy would be violated.

Offenders must be justly punished. Proper sentencing is an absolutely indispensable and minimum necessary condition for victims to recover their everyday life and future, although gradually. At the same time, the sentencing should benefit society as a whole by effectively preventing repeat offenses.

A system is needed to encourage victims to file complaints. In this regard, I believe the existing system runs counter to this point. In fact, I've heard that in some cases, victims of sex crimes gave up reporting to police and going to court because they didn't want their cases to be tried under the citizen judge system. Instead, they opted for out-of-court settlements.

However, there are also objections to the view that sex crimes should be excluded from citizen judge trials on grounds such exclusion could give rise to misunderstandings that sex crimes are not serious offenses. It is also believed that some victims of sex crimes want citizen judges to hear their cases.

Therefore, as far as sex crime cases are concerned, the will of victims should be respected. The law should be revised without delay to give victims of sex crimes a choice between citizen judge trials or trials in which only professional judges are involved.

What is needed now is the creation of an environment in which victims feel no hesitation reporting crimes to police and pursuing prosecution. A system of fair trials that do not subject victims of sex crimes to further harm must be established as soon as possible.

If victims opt for citizen judge trials, measures designed to alleviate the burden on victims should be studied and discussed. For example, a balance in the number of male and female citizen judges must be carefully considered.

Furthermore, instead of a verbal presentation in court of the facts about the crime, a method to present them in writing is an idea worth considering.

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The author is a lawyer and an associate professor of crime victim studies at Tokiwa University Graduate School.(IHT/Asahi: November 21,2009)