The Judge Indictment Committee of the Diet has decided to prosecute Judge Indictment Committee of the Sendai High Court, which has been filed for dismissal over posting on Twitter, to the Impeachment Court, which examines whether to dismiss it. I did.
This is the first time a judge has been prosecuted for sending SNS.
Judge Indictment Committee, consisting of members of the Diet and members of the Diet, claimed that he was dismissed after a request for dismissal was filed over the posting on Twitter by Judge Kiichi Okaguchi (55) of the Sendai High Court. I have also asked and considered whether to prosecute.
As a result, at the committee meeting on the 16th, it was decided to prosecute Judge Okaguchi in the Impeachment Court, saying that more than two-thirds of the members agreed with the prosecution.
In the future, an impeachment trial consisting of members of the public and members of the Diet will be held to decide whether or not to dismiss.
Yoshitaka Shindo, chairman of the Judge Indictment Committee, said after the committee, "I would like to clarify the specific circumstances and grounds in the impeachment trial in the future."
This is the 10th case in which a judge has been prosecuted by the Impeachment Court, and the first case in which a judge has been prosecuted over the transmission of SNS.
Judge Okaguchi is a judge in charge of civil trials, and is known as a unique judge who actively disseminates information using SNS such as Twitter.
Judge Okaguchi was disciplined in the Supreme Court's divisional trial twice in 2018 and last year for degrading the judge's dignity in a post about the bereaved family of the murder of a high school girl. I am.
Lawyer "There is no act that corresponds to dismissal"
A lawyer acting on behalf of Judge Okaguchi said, "I do not know the details of the reason, but Mr. Okaguchi has not acted as a dismissal at all, and the decision is extremely regrettable. It is a serious threat to the human rights and freedom of expression of judges and has a great impact on the rights of the people. As an agent, I will insist that there is no reason for dismissal in the criminal charge trial. " Did.
Judge Indictment Committee and Impeachment Court
Judges are guaranteed by the Constitution from the perspective of protecting the independence of the judiciary.
Even for a judge who has caused a scandal, the disciplinary action that the court can impose is up to a warning or a fine, and the impeachment court established by the Diet will decide whether to dismiss the judge, that is, to quit. ..
The Judge Indictment Committee of the Diet has the role of prosecution in ordinary criminal cases.
It is composed of members of both the House of Representatives and the House of Representatives, and when there is a request from the public to dismiss a judge, it is necessary to investigate the target judge and hold an impeachment trial such as significantly violating the duty of duty. If it is determined that there is, we will carry out "prosecution", which is the prosecution of a criminal case.
The Impeachment Court, which is held after the prosecution, is also composed of members of parliament and decides whether to dismiss or not.
According to the Judge Indictment Committee, between 1948 and last year when this system was established, the Judge Indictment Committee received more than 22,000 claims, of which nine were prosecuted.
In addition, as a result of the impeachment trial, seven of them have been determined to be dismissed.
Since the beginning of Heisei, three people have been judged to be dismissed, and all of them have been found guilty or fined in criminal cases for stalking and voyeurism before being impeached.