Code of Criminal Procedure

The government is to, every five years after the enforcement of this Act, give consideration, taking into account the status of enforcement of the provisions as amended by this Act, to the system concerning the prohibition of the use of evidence for purposes other than the intended purpose in the procedure for a request for a retrial, the system concerning the list of the evidence held by the public prosecutor, and other aspects of how the retrial system should be, and, when it finds it necessary, is to take required measures based on the results.

In light of the recent circumstances concerning retrial procedures, with regard to a ruling under Article 445-2, paragraph (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure as amended by the provisions of Article 2 (excluding the amending provisions set forth in Article 1, item (iii) of the Supplementary Provisions; the same applies in Article 6, paragraph (1) of the Supplementary Provisions) (hereinafter referred to as the "Code of Criminal Procedure as Amended by Article 2"), care must be taken so that the scope of the evidence found to be related to the grounds for the request for a retrial does not become unduly narrow.

In light of the recent circumstances concerning retrial procedures, a recommendation by the court to the public prosecutor concerning the voluntary submission or disclosure of evidence, as an operational measure in the procedure for a request for a retrial that has been taken until now, and the voluntary submission or disclosure of evidence by the public prosecutor are to be carried out appropriately according to the case.

The provisions of Article 438-2, paragraph (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure as Amended by Article 2 also apply, in a case in which a ruling to commence a retrial has become final, to a judge who has participated in any of the following rulings on the request for a retrial pertaining to that ruling to commence a retrial:

a ruling under the Code before the Article 2 amendment;

a ruling to dismiss an immediate appeal against a ruling under the Code before the Article 2 amendment or an objection under Article 428, paragraph (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (excluding a ruling based solely on the ground that the procedure for that immediate appeal or objection violated the provisions governing it).

The provisions of Articles 444-2 through 445-3, Articles 445-7 through 445-9, Article 446, Article 447, Article 448, paragraphs (1) and (2), Article 450, Article 450-2, Article 450-4 and Article 450-5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as Amended by Article 2 apply to cases for which a request for a retrial is made on or after the date of enforcement of this Act (hereinafter referred to as the "Effective Date"), and the provisions then in force continue to govern with regard to cases for which a request for a retrial was made before the Effective Date (referred to as "retrial cases requested before the Effective Date" in the following Article and Article 11 of the Supplementary Provisions).

The provisions of Articles 445-4 and 445-5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as Amended by Article 2 also apply to copies of evidence (meaning the copies of evidence prescribed in Article 281-3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure; the same applies in the following paragraph) pertaining to evidence that the court received from the public prosecutor in the procedure for a request for a retrial in a retrial case requested before the effective date, when that evidence has been copied. In this case, the phrase "by the public prosecutor after the court made a ruling to commence a hearing" in Article 445-4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as Amended by Article 2 is deemed to be replaced with "by the public prosecutor".

The provisions of Article 445-6 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as Amended by Article 2 also apply to copies of evidence pertaining to evidence that the court received from the public prosecutor in the procedure for a request for a retrial in a retrial case requested before the Effective Date, when that evidence is copied on or after the Effective Date.

The provisions of Article 445-10 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as Amended by Article 2 also apply where a person (excluding the public prosecutor) who made a request for a retrial pertaining to a retrial case requested before the Effective Date dies on or after the Effective Date. In this case, the phrase "Where a ruling to commence a hearing has been made, if the retrial requester" in Article 445-10, paragraph (1) of that Code is deemed to be replaced with "If the person who made a request for a retrial (excluding the public prosecutor), on or after the date of enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Code of Criminal Procedure (Act No. 67 of 2026),", and the phrase "the court that made the ruling to commence a hearing" in Article 445-10, paragraph (4) of that Code is deemed to be replaced with "the court that received the request for a retrial".

With regard to the application of Article 448, paragraph (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure as Amended by Article 1 on or after the Effective Date, the suspension of execution of the death penalty under Article 448, paragraph (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure Before the Article 2 Amendment (including that in a case where the provisions then in force continue to govern pursuant to Article 9 of the Supplementary Provisions) is deemed to be the suspension of execution of the death penalty under Article 448, paragraph (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure as Amended by Article 2.