Japans vs USA criminal legal system

Defining the above will make the subject clear on what to talk about, because the criminal legal system involves laws to follow and adhere to. These two countries have a set of different laws and guidelines on how each and every criminal proceeding should be carried out. Therefore, in this paper, I am going to demystify the two criminal legal systems and how they operate. This is because in the current society people travel a lot from one point to another and that involves different countries that they don’t understand their laws. In that situation, one can easily commit a crime and of course prosecuted for what you thought to be right in accordance with your laws. In a civil law country like Japan, the judges are more of everything in the proceedings, this is because of the powers bestowed upon them and they are tasked with investigating the facts presented and cross-examine witnesses and eventually dispense the judgment in accordance with the codified law in the strictest way.

However, this is not the case in America, because the judge during the proceedings is more of an arbitrator as the prosecution, and the defendants argue out their cases in the court of law and after that the lawyers are done the judge gives out the verdict in a way he/she feels better and in accordance with the case at hand as the country operates on a common law (Dammer). The disparities come in because of the varying culture, community code of conduct and the civility that is portrayed by the people in that country. This shows why Japan has got the least number of crimes committed per year (Adler). This is because of the fear instilled in them by the rules in place, and they have to adhere to them to avoid punishment.

S cannot stay for over 24hours without being presented on the court of law, this is part of ensuring the suspects get enough time to prepare themselves to answer charges brought against them. When it happens that the police have not collected enough evidence, they can ask the judges to grant them the authority to hold you for a short period described to them by the judge not more than 10days. In these 10 days, one is also given room for visitation by family and their attorneys to hasten their defenses on the proceedings' given (Robert A. KAGAN). The police also in their call of duty they observe the law to the latter, because they cannot make an arrest or search a property without being given a warrant by the judge in place.

Suspect interrogations: in an event of an arrest the suspects are always required to write a statement, or they are interrogated so as to get more information about the crime. This is a procedural requirement in each and every country so as to build a case for hearing. In the U. S the interrogations are mostly videotaped or recorded for the purpose of openness and to avoid the suspects being coerced to give false information (Rosett). In the case of an interrogation, the suspects are required to have their lawyers present to avoid their client being mistreated tor threatened to confess. In these kind of interrogations, there are no video or audio recorded interrogations as they don’t prefer exposing the rot the system has.

The courts: the courts are regarded as houses of justice, this is because they are made to listen to the stories of both parties involved and the arguments of the lawyers to form a basis of facts presented. The courts also are supposed to maintain the law by laying down the procedures of engagement during the hearing. This part of the process is called a pre-trial period, as it's for setting down the guidelines given. The American court system is considered to be one of the most efficient systems in the world and they are where justice and fairness exist (Robert A. Here the judge is the boss, and is in position to give any sentence upon which the victim has been found guilty of.

This involves cross-examining witnesses, checking of evidence and making a decision most fit from his findings (Ebbe). In Japan one can have a lawyer, but once a case has passed through the interrogation stage 99% of the cases lead to a conviction. Hence, for those coerced to confess have no luck in appealing as the verdict is concrete in that even the upper court cannot overturn. In a case where a person doesn’t have a lawyer, or they cannot afford, they can request for court-appointed ones. Even with the disparities, there are some things that the U. S does which only apply to it; some of them are; plea bargaining (DeSombre). Here the suspect is given a chance to voluntarily speak up and cooperate in the investigation process so as to be given a more lenient punishment.

This is one of the practices in a way that has led to the questioning of the justice system in the U. S; because that may lead to false information from the suspect and interference of justice being served. U. S courts during the pre-trial they always demand bits of evidence concerning the case to be submitted for cross-examination so that both parties can prepare well for the date of hearing, but that one in Japan is done differently in that not necessarily all the evidence are presented, for the scheming lawyers they might hide some as an advantage for them. Doing that in the U. S is illegal unless it’s an added evidence and must be admitted by the judge for it to be valid.

In conclusion, these discrepancies though should not block the two countries from engaging in business, this is because it not hard though to involve their lawyers in understanding each other’s constitutions to defend their clients well. This work clearly explains and lists countries whose criminal legal system have worked for it to lower the rate of crimes. it’s important to my work as it fully exemplifies on low crimes in Japan in regard to their Police system. Castberg, A D. Japanese Criminal Justice. Survey (Cross-Cultural). A Dammer, Harry R. Comparative Criminal Justice Systems. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2013. Mr. Harry provided a very broad look on how the U. N. Comparative and International Criminal Justice Systems: Policing, Judiciary, and corrections. Florida: CRC Press, 2013.