Proposed Public Prosecutor's Office Amendment Proposal by Nihon Benren “There is no reason to hurry the bill” May 11, 18:37

Nichibenren = Japan Federation of Bar Associations held a temporary press conference on November 11 regarding the proposed revision of the Public Prosecutor's Office Act to allow prosecutors to extend their retirement age. I strongly protested that deliberation should not be done in the Diet.

The proposed revision of the Public Prosecutor's Office Law, which will allow the prosecutor's retirement age to gradually increase to 65 years and allow extension of the retirement age to a maximum of three years if the Cabinet and the Minister of Justice recognize it, will be deliberated by the Cabinet Committee of the House of Representatives from 8th of this month. -The ruling party aims to pass the House of Representatives this week.

Regarding this, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations held a temporary press conference on the 11th, and strongly stated that the independence of the prosecution, which requires an unbiased independence, is strongly violated by the extension of the retirement age at the discretion of the Cabinet and the Minister of Justice. I'm afraid. "

In addition, he strongly protested that the Diet should not deliberately argue that there is no reason to urgently pass a bill that could shake the separation of the three powers while the declaration of emergency continues.

Vice Chairman Tetsuya Okawa of the Nichibenren criticized, "Amidst the urgent need for countermeasures against the new coronavirus, it is inevitable that we will not push the public in a timely manner without giving them the opportunity to think carefully."

Regarding the proposed revision of the Public Prosecutor's Office Act and the extension of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutor's Office attorney General Kurokawa to retirement age, in addition to the Nichibenren, 35 bar associations nationwide and the Federation of Bar Associations have announced a presidential statement against them.

The prosecution office law amendment discussion is

The proposed revision of the Public Prosecutor's Office law, which began to be discussed in the Diet, raised the retirement age of public prosecutors from 63 years old to 65 years old, and introduced a system to the same effect as "the mandatory retirement age system". In principle, the top prosecutors of eight high public prosecutors offices nationwide are required to retire from the post at the age of 63.

However, if the Cabinet or the Minister of Justice admits that “the administration of public affairs will be significantly impaired,” they will be able to stay in post after the mandatory retirement age or beyond the mandatory retirement age, and the retirement age can be extended up to a maximum of 3 years.

Regarding the extension of the prosecutor's retirement age, the government decided to extend the retirement age of Tokyo High Public Prosecutor General Kurokawa for half a year in January by changing the legal interpretation so far. There was a series of criticisms, such as `` to make him the president, '' and lawyers and others also said that the prosecutor's law was amended to "institutionalize a system by which the government could intervene in prosecution personnel, threatening the political neutrality of the public prosecutor." The opposite voice is rising.

Furthermore, in the Diet's deliberation to date, the original amendment that the Ministry of Justice was considering at the end of October last year stated that "it is unlikely that there will be any significant disruption to the operation of public affairs." It became clear that it was not necessary to establish a law, and the opposition party and lawyers criticized that "the legal and amendment of Kurokawa Attorney General's illegal and unreasonable extension of the retirement age due to a change in legal interpretation will be justified by a later revision". doing.

Regarding this, Minister of Justice Mori said, "Since we had time to submit the bill to the ordinary Diet, we reviewed it again, and in January, we decided to extend the term of extension of service to the amendment to the Public Prosecutor's Law on the premise of a new interpretation. "The extension of service does not put pressure on the exercise of the public prosecution right and the independence of the public prosecution right is not harmed."

More than 4.88 million Twitter posts in 2 days

The number of posts with the hash tag "I protest the proposed revision of the Public Prosecutor's Office Law" spread rapidly, exceeding 4.8 million in just two days until the night of the 10th.

The first post with this hashtag was posted on the night of the 8th of this month, but it increased when many actors, musicians, and other celebrities began to show their support on the 9th, and at 4am on the 10th. The number of protest posts has exceeded 1 million.

Then, at 10 am on the 10th, the number of cases exceeded 2 million, and in the trend of Twitter, "Mother's Day" was suppressed, and it became the top for a long time.

By the night of the 10th, more than 4.88 million posts had been posted by the night of the 10th, and the Tokyo High Public Prosecutor's Office prosecutor Kurokawa's retirement age and a video of the Diet's deliberation on the proposed revision of the Public Prosecutor's Law were posted one after another. Related tweets, such as "commentary remarks," have become a trend.

Posting protests from celebrities

On Twitter, celebrities from various fields such as actors, writers, musicians, and film directors have been protesting.

"Isn't it important to explain the important things to the people properly and then take the time to decide in an orderly order? Is it necessary to hurry so much?" (Actor Yu Shirota)

"What kind of political party do you support ?" I feel that it is an action that could shake the fundamental rule because of the previous question of whether to do it or what kind of policy to agree with. ”(Ikimonogakari Yoshiki Mizuno)

“ I wanted to mutter only about cats and delicious food But that's no good. No, it's no good. The Japanese highest authority is trying to put the person who protects himself at the top of the prosecution ”(Mr. Yuka Murayama)

“ The people suffer from infectious diseases ” While I was there, I wrote a story saying that if the cabinet and the minister of law approved a law that can extend the retirement age of executives of the public prosecutor's office exceptionally, the producer definitely said "I can not do it. Reality I think that is plunged the name of too much ' "(playwright, Shoji Kokami's)

Takashi Matsumoto this other lyricist, Shunji Iwai of film director, Tadanobu Asano of actor, writer Mr. Mitsuyo Tsunoda, cartoonist Chika Umino and others are also posting with the hashtag "# I will protest the proposed revision of the Public Prosecutor's Law."