Statute of limitation for murder cases and bereaved families’ grief

May 8, 2009

Statute of limitation for murder cases and bereaved families’ grief

A group of families who lost their beloved ones in unsolved murder cases held a rally in Tokyo late February to announce the inauguration of an association. The purpose was to call for scrapping or suspending Japan’s statute of limitation system.
Doubts about the statute of limitation in criminal cases were little heard until recently. But the rule has come to be questioned as many years have passed for yet-to-be-solved murder cases involving young victims and one whole family.
The country cannot afford to continue to spend taxpayer money indefinitely for the search of criminals. This is a reason cited by experts for maintaining the statute of limitation system. They also say that bereaved families’ grief will be usually eased as time goes by. It also becomes difficult to collect evidence and related materials as the cases become older.
A waka poem composed by Princess Ooku (661-702) about her younger brother, Prince Ootsu, and included in Japan’s first waka poem anthology Manyoshu (ten thousand leaves) goes:

When I saw my beloved one off on his way back to Yamato,
the night was far advanced.
And I found myself standing wet with morning dewdrops at daybreak.
(A personal translation)

The poem depicts a situation when the prince visited his sister at her residence in Ise, where the maiden princess served the God of Ise. Prince Ootsu was in danger of being arrested in a power struggle at the time. Princess Ooku’s fear about her brother’s fate became a reality. Prince Ootsu was actually arrested and executed after their separation. Her poem made after her brother’s death was also included in the waka anthology.
“Our anger at the criminals will get stronger. It will never weaken,” said a document issued by the families before the inauguration of the group. “Why do we, the bereaved families, have to feel pain like this?” it said.
Japan had been evolving around a public-oriented social system. The nation was the first and individuals the second. This was an idea long followed by general people. But more emphasis has been given now to individuals’ rights and views. The tendency is becoming more pronounced, now that people pay attention to the importance of families and things around themselves as Japan has entered an era of low growth. It is difficult to keep a balance between the budget for the search of criminals and costs for realizing the social justice to respond to bereaved families’ feelings. Discussion about what to do with the statute of limitation system may be a cost for Japan to be a more matured democracy.

An author’s note: Yamato is an area in the current Nara Prefecture, where the emperors’ palaces existed in the seventh century. Ise is a region in the eastern part of the current Mie Prefecture.