Filmmaker takes on Japan's justice system

TOKYO, Feb 1 (Reuters) Crammed onto a packed Tokyo commuter train on the way to a job interview, Teppei Kaneko is horrified when a schoolgirl accuses him of groping her.

An embarrassing scene on the platform leads to the police station, weeks of interrogation and indictment on flimsy evidence for 26-year-old Kaneko, who goes on to maintain his innocence throughout a lengthy trial.

It is a nightmarish scenario for a film -- especially one directed by Masayuki Suo, previously best known for his comic take on mid-life crisis relieved by ballroom dancing in ''Shall We Dance?'', an international hit that inspired a Hollywood remake.

''I Just Didn't Do It,'' Suo's first film in 11 years, was inspired by a real-life case in which a man was wrongly convicted of groping and imprisoned for 14 months, only succeeding in getting the verdict overturned two years later.

''As a human being, I could not close my eyes to the fact that unfair things are happening,'' Suo told a news conference today.

About 99.9 per cent of indictments lead to convictions in Japan, an astounding success rate that critics say is a symptom of problems in the criminal justice system.

The UN Human Rights Committee has twice recommended that Japan introduce changes, expressing deep concern over the fact that suspects may be detained for 23 days without charge.

Most criminal trials are based on confessions extracted during this detention period, during which no sound or video recordings are made.

''During this time, suspects are kept in the police station and interrogated day after day,'' said Makoto Teranaka, secretary-general of Amnesty Japan. ''People who are detained for such a long time will easily confess to things they haven't done,'' he said.

Suspects' confessions are drawn up by police, so those who have committed crimes may find themselves signing statements admitting to more than they have actually done, leading to partially mistaken convictions, Teranaka said.

''Japanese people tend to believe that courts are infallible,'' director Suo said in an interview today. ''At the very least, I want more people to know that judges make mistakes.'' CHANGES AFOOT Some US academics say Japanese prosecutors' reluctance to indict without a confession and the absence of a formal plea bargaining system actually makes wrongful convictions less likely in Japan.

''It's impossible to be certain, but I personally do not think they are more common here than in the United States,'' said Daniel Foote, a law professor at the University of Tokyo. ''If anything, I believe the opposite is true.'' The justice system is undergoing a gradual transformation, but the changes may present both opportunities and risks.

Video recording of interrogations began on a small-scale trial basis last year. Japan is to introduce a lay judge system by 2009 that will make ordinary citizens a part of the trial of serious crimes.

In a new departure, proposals emerged this week that would allow victims and their families to be part of the criminal trial process -- even questioning the accused and suggesting penalties -- something experts say could put justice at risk.

''This is dangerous,'' said Amnesty's Teranaka. ''It carries with it the risk of turning the court into a place of revenge.'' Foote said the moves reflected a new mood in the justice system.

''I do sense a shift, in part because of the victims' rights movement, in part due to perceptions that Japan is becoming much more dangerous and that stricter sentences are needed to combat this trend,'' he said.

REUTERS AKJ PM1558