Introduction of Videotaping of Interrogations and the Lessons of the Imaichi Case: A Case of Conventional Criminal Justice Policy-Making in Japan

27 Wash. Int'l L.J. 149 (2017)

UC Hastings Research Paper No. 262

29 Pages Posted: 27 Feb 2018 Last revised: 15 Oct 2018

See all articles by Setsuo Miyazawa

Setsuo Miyazawa

UC Law, San Francisco

Mari Hirayama

Hakuoh University - Faculty of Law

Date Written: February 26, 2018

Abstract

Malcolm M. Feeley examined cases of criminal justice reform in the United States, where reforms can be conceived and initiated in a very open structure, but implementation of the introduced reforms can be handed over to highly fragmented implementers. The story of mandatory videotaping of interrogations and accompanying changes in Japan demonstrates the reform process at the other end of the scale, where the members of the criminal justice establishment can exert a strong influence even at the conception and initiation stages, and have even stronger control at the implementation and routinization stages. We believe that Feeley's theoretical framework can be expanded to be more generally applicable to court reforms outside the United States. This could be achieved by introducing the degree of openness of the policy-making process at the conceptualization and initiation stages, and by introducing a degree of fragmentation of the policy-making process at the implementation and routinization stages as central independent variables which determine the course of the reform.

Suggested Citation

Miyazawa, Setsuo and Hirayama, Mari, Introduction of Videotaping of Interrogations and the Lessons of the Imaichi Case: A Case of Conventional Criminal Justice Policy-Making in Japan (February 26, 2018). 27 Wash. Int'l L.J. 149 (2017), UC Hastings Research Paper No. 262, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3130302

Setsuo Miyazawa (Contact Author)

UC Law, San Francisco ( email )

200 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
United States

Mari Hirayama

Hakuoh University - Faculty of Law ( email )

1117 Daigyoji
Oyama
Tochigi Prefecture, 323-0041
Japan

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