Victims' participation in criminal trials may begin Dec. 1

The Justice Ministry plans to start letting people victimized by crime participate in trial proceedings on Dec. 1, ministry sources said Wednesday.

The measure, part of efforts to support people victimized by serious crimes, including direct victims and the next of kin of the deceased, marks a significant departure for a criminal justice system that has never allowed such participation in legal proceedings.

Crimes under consideration for participation are murder, rape, kidnapping and professional negligence resulting in death.

For technical reasons, however, the first courtroom faceoff between perpetrators and the victimized won't happen this year, the sources said.

The ministry is trying to finalize the starting date with other ministries, agencies and the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling bloc, the sources said.

Once they reach an agreement, the participation system will be presented to the Cabinet, where an ordinance for announcing the date to put it into effect will be decided on, they said.

The system will applied to indictments handed down on Dec. 1 or later, making it unlikely anyone victimized will appear in court this year.

The measure will allow such participants, if court-authorized, to question defendants and witnesses. They will also be allowed to state their opinions about penalties if so solicited by prosecutors, up to the limits of the statutes under which the defendants stand accused.

The victimized will also be able to commission lawyers as proxies. Even if they cannot afford a lawyer, they will be assigned one at taxpayer expense through a public agency.

A system that will debut at the same time will also allow the victimized to demand compensation from a defendant, just like in a lawsuit.

If the defendant is found guilty, the same judge who hands down that verdict will be able to decide the amount through proceedings based on the evidence presented in the criminal trial.

Calls for allowing the victimized to participate in criminal trials grew after Aum Shinrikyo carried out its sarin attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995, killing 12 people and injuring more than 5,500. It was the doomsday cult's second nerve gas mass murder within the span of a year.

Participation of the victimized was included in the code of criminal procedure when the law was revised in June 2007. It was then decided the measure would be put into effect by late December.