Fluctuating "trust in prosecutors"-What the prosecutor-General retirement extension asks-March 25 21:31

"If you can't make a reasonable explanation, the prosecutor is dead."
"It's a de facto" command "by HR."
This is the word of the incumbent prosecutor's office over the retirement of the Tokyo High Prosecutor's Office. NHK thoroughly interviews prosecutor OBs, such as past prosecutors-generals, and incumbent executives. I was worried about trust in "independence of prosecutors."
(Reporter of Social Justice Club, Ryutaro Mori, Kanami Hashimoto, Hiroki Moriya, Ryota Miyazaki)

Objections at prosecution internal meeting

"The public is suspected of trusting the public prosecutor who came unbiased. You should explain carefully to the people."

February 19, Ministry of Justice in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. At the end of the meeting where the prosecutor-general, the prosecutor-general, and the prosecutor-general, the prosecutor's offices all over the country, gathered, one of the prosecuting prosecutors voiced:

At the venue were Attorney-General Hiroshi Kurokawa of Tokyo High Prosecutor, who was in the midst of the problem, and Makoto Hayashi of Nagoya High Probability, who is believed to be a candidate for president, along with Mr. Kurokawa.

It is extremely unusual that opinions other than the agenda appear at the meeting. The atmosphere of the venue is said to be frozen.

Rival of the general candidate

The two members of the commission have each held posts in the Ministry of Justice, which is known as the "gateway to the prosecution," and have been regarded as rivals from an early age.

The term of office of the prosecutor's office is often around two years, and the current Attorney General Nobuo Inada will be celebrating two full years in office in July.

The prosecutor's retirement age is 65 years, and the other prosecutors are 63 years.

For this reason, Mr. Kurokawa was expected to retire by February 8 when he turned 63, and his 63th birthday was expected to be replaced by Hayashi on July 30.

However, the government decided to extend Kurokawa's retirement just before his birthday to August. This extension of the retirement age has opened the way for Mr. Kurokawa to become the Attorney General.

Sudden “extension of retirement age” prosecutor shakes

The retirement age was extended by the Cabinet on January 31. Many of the legal and prosecution executives interviewed were amazed.

"I never expected it."
"Can I extend my retirement age? Is there such a law?"

Why could you extend your retirement age? The government has stated that it has applied the provisions of the National Public Service Law, which allows retirement, rather than the Prosecutor's Office Law.

At the Diet in 1981, when the extension of the retirement age of the National Public Service Act was deliberated, an executive of the National Personnel Authority replied that "the prosecutor has already set a retirement age, and the retirement age of the National Public Service Act does not apply."

However, the government changed the interpretation of the law and, for the first time in history, extended the retirement age of prosecutors.

The government states that "the Ministry of Justice, which has jurisdiction over the Prosecutor's Office Law, has properly interpreted the law and adopted it as a government. It has been decided by the Ministry of Justice to extend the service."

However, Mr. Kurokawa, who served as chief of secretary and secretary of the Ministry of Justice who served as a coordinator with politicians for many years, said that Mr. Kurokawa, who was seen as `` close to the official residence, '' said `` Kurokawa prosecutor's intention with the intention of the official residence Isn't it a measure to be the President? "

One of the experienced prosecutors' generals told NHK that "the prosecutors have to be strictly neutral, and the personnel have been managed in the same way. It's a situation. "

One of the experienced prosecutors said, "Mr. Kurokawa is a very talented person, but extending retirement age is too special."

What is the core of the “extended retirement” problem?

Why is the retirement extension of one civil servant so controversial? Behind this is the specialty of the prosecutor's office and the organization.

Public prosecutors play a role in checking power for injustice through investigations and trials, so they need to be "independence" and "neutral" from politics.

In principle, the power to prosecute the defendant and bring it to justice was granted only to prosecutors who are `` semi-judicial bodies, '' and politicians said the Lockheed case that arrested former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and the undisclosed shares of `` wet hands ''. And bureaucrats have been involved in corruption cases that cut into the center of the administration, such as the recruitment case that led to the resignation of the Takeshita cabinet.

On the other hand, the Public Prosecutor's Office is also an administrative agency belonging to the Ministry of Justice. For this reason, the general prosecutor's appointment is by the Minister of Justice, and the Cabinet has the appointment of the prosecutor-general and the top prosecutors of eight high public prosecutors offices nationwide. It has been customary for the Minister and Cabinet to affirm the personnel proposal with the approval of the President.

"Retirement age" is the breakwater from "government intervention"

Former prosecutor Yasuyuki Takai, who was in charge of investigating the recruitment case, points out that the strictly guarded "retirement age" was the breakwater that protected the independence of the prosecution.

Mr. Takai "Although politics has been trying to influence prosecutors and prosecutors have tried to maintain independence, there has been some tug-of-war in the past, but so far we have managed to maintain a balance. Under the “identity security” and “retirement age system”, the government cannot remove the prosecutor except for disciplinary action, but the prosecutor always retires after the retirement age, that is, the administration gives the prosecutor both candy and whip through personnel affairs. The “retirement system” was one of the “breakwaters” that prevented government intervention, and the biggest problem this time was that politics moved the breakwaters on its own. ”

Another "breakwater" Attorney General

Former prosecutor Takai pointed out that the role of a breakwater that protects the independence of prosecutors other than the retirement system is the existence of the prosecutor-general itself.

Mr. Takai: "The only time the Prosecutor's presence is most meaningful is when prosecutor independence is threatened."

The Public Prosecutor's Office Act stipulates that the Minister of Justice can direct an individual case and is called "command."

However, the target is not an individual prosecutor, but only the top Attorney General, and if the command is exercised, it is up to the President. One of the experienced prosecutors' generals stated the meaning as follows.

An experienced prosecutor-general: "" Command "has two implications: curbing the self-righteousness of the prosecutor and eliminating unjust intervention from the administration into the prosecution. Is not allowed to intervene, and only the Attorney General can negotiate equally with the Minister when command is about to be activated and refute. "

"Initiation of command" At that time, the prosecutor-general?

Until now, command has been invoked only once in the "Shipbuilding Suspect" in 1954. The prosecutor's office was to arrest the ruling and Liberal Party secretary-general, Eisaku Sato, on the charge of bribery.

Shortly afterwards, President Sato made a statement saying, "It is unprecedented and regrettable." Public criticism has increased, leading to the resignation of the Yoshida cabinet.

One of the experienced prosecutors-generals appreciated the judgment of the then-general-general.

Experienced prosecutor-general: "Announcement of command invocation has resulted in the cabinet breaking down and protecting prosecutor independence. Prosecutor independence is not for prosecutors, but for democratic states."

Command has not been activated for more than 60 years since then.

Attorney General's resolution

Prosecutor General later called `` Mr. Prosecutor '', Hideki Ito responded to the prosecutor-general when he received command in the book `` Prosecutor's Agency Law Articles Commentary '', the first edition of which was published in 1963,
1 Obeyed while dissatisfied 2 Not obeyed 3 I wrote three options to resign.

Later, in 1983, the LDP parliamentarians criticized the statement, "I do not follow the command of the minister," as being "very problematic." Ito was inaugurated as president in a new edition published in 1986. , These descriptions have been removed.

However, Ito also wrote in a statement in this new edition that, "If the opinion disagrees with the minister's command, the prosecutor-general is not allowed to take an attitude of blinding him." Showed.

This time, several experienced prosecutors-general interviewed said, "I was prepared to quit if command is exercised," and revealed my pride as the top prosecutor's secret in my heart.

"Independence of prosecutors" carried by successive prosecutors-generals. One of the prosecutor's executives has expressed a sense of crisis that an extension of retirement could jeopardize its independence.

Prosecutor's executive "Isn't this a de facto invocation of command by human resources? If the Cabinet chooses a convenient president, everything will go well to the administration even if the Minister no longer takes command. "

Insufficient explanation to the people

Many incumbent legal and prosecutor executives have complained and questioned the government's lack of explanation.

The retirement age can be extended under the National Public Service Law, "when there is sufficient reason to recognize that retirement will cause a significant impediment to the administration of public affairs."

The National Personnel Authority has granted retirement retirement as an example of "if you are in a job requiring mastery skills"
`` When it is difficult to fill vacancies on remote islands ''
"When a member of a large research project team retires and the completion of the research is significantly delayed."

On the other hand, the Minister of Justice Mori explained that the reason for the extension of retirement age was "to respond to the investigation and trial of serious, complicated and difficult cases." I do not.

One of the executives said, "The government's response to the Diet so far has not been explained by the public. What is the case that cannot be handled without extending Kurokawa's retirement age under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Koken? I want to listen to it. "

Worried about losing trust in "prosecutor's independence"

While prosecutors at the site commented, `` If the case is based on the law and evidence, the leader can be anybody, '' or `` I do not think that the case will not be possible with this personnel change, '' In the future, if you do not prosecute political issues, it seems that you have all been accused of having Mr. Kurokawa, which is very negative as an organization, "said one executive.

Former prosecutor Takai points out that the biggest concern with this retirement extension is the loss of public confidence in the independence of prosecutors.

Mr. Takai: "In order for a democratic state to operate in a sound manner, prosecutors with great power need to be trusted by the public to be" independent from politics. " Even so, the public misunderstood that they wanted to be in politics, and they seemed to have done it for the administration even after conducting a correct investigation. Losing the public's trust would be an obstacle to shaking the prosecution's organization. "

Will Kurokawa be President?

In the future, the focus will be on whether Mr. Kurokawa will be appointed prosecutor general. The key is the Attorney General Inada.

Mr. Inada will not be dismissed against his will until retirement, except for disciplinary measures, under the "identity security" prescribed by the Public Prosecutors Office Law.

Mr. Inada's 65th birthday will be August 14 of next year, and until then he will be able to remain at the sole discretion of the President.

If Mr. Inada does not resign by August 7 due to the extension of the retirement age, the Cabinet will need to take measures such as extending the retirement age again in order for Mr. Kurokawa to become President.

Some have pointed out that Mr. Inada has some of the responsibilities that led to the confusion as a prosecutor, and it will be interesting to see how to judge his own retreat.

"Independence" and "trust" of prosecution at the crossroads

In a three-day public opinion poll conducted by NHK this month, 54% of respondents said that they thought it was appropriate for the government's decision to extend the retirement age by prosecutor, saying it was not appropriate. Exceeded, "appropriate" was 22%.

The public confidence that many prosecutors are concerned about seems to have already shaken.

Prosecutors have played a part in democratic societies by cutting into the injustice of the government from an unbiased position. On the other hand, public opinion is often criticized for saying that it is a national policy investigation over the distance from politics. Where is the prosecution's independence and trust going? Now, at a crossroads.

Social Department Justice Club Cap Ryutaro Mori

Yoshimi Hashimoto, Reporter, Social Justice Club

Hiroki Moriya, Reporter, Social Justice Club

Ryota Miyazaki, Reporter, Social Justice Club