A week ago, the Upper House plenary hall (参院本会議) passed a Penal Code reform that included toughening of article 231 (Insults).
Article 231: A person who insults another person in public, irrespective of whether the accusation alleges facts or not, the person is punished by penal detention or a petty fine.
Penal Code art 231 (Japanese: 231条(侮辱)事実を摘示しなくても、公然と人を侮辱した者は、拘留又は科料に処する。)
The toughening of the Insults article has become the center of many discussions ever since Ms. Hana Kimura took her own life after having received an immense amount of slander on the internet based on her appearance on the TV program “Terrace House”.
what is going to change?
Currently, article 231 only imposes a maximum of 30 days of “penal detention” (≠ imprisonment) or a maximum of ¥10,000 of “petty fine” (≠ fine). It is the lightest crime that the Penal Code provides.
Many criticized this article for being too ‘light’ as a punishment, especially considering the development of social media sites where many people felt free to degrade and attack anyone anonymously.
Through this reform, the crime of Insults can impose a maximum of one year of “imprisonment” or a maximum of ¥30,000 of a “fine”.
In addition, under the current law, officials only had one year to investigate and arrest the suspect, so it was very difficult to dig into the truth and find the suspect, especially due to the complexity and anonymity of social media. However, the reform included an increased legal period of prescription (時効期間), of 3 years.
It is expected that it will prevent tragic cases like that of Ms. Kimura, and many more in the past, and that those who do commit the crime of Insult, will be gravely punished according to the law.
On the other hand, there are voices that concern for a possible far restriction on the freedom of speech, especially in cases of criticism towards politicians, etc.. Thus it was agreed that there would be a verification on the state of freedom of expression three years after the reform goes into effect.
there still are issues…
The reform does not solve all the issues accompanied by this article.
The article reads, “A person insults another person in public (…)”. And as the reform does not include anything regarding this requirement, it will remain this way.
Now, what does this mean? It means that the law only applies when the insulting is done in public; Thus, a public tweet, Instagram story, post, comment on a post, etc. could be charged with the crime. However, no matter how bad the content might be, 1:1 conversations online like Direct Messages, or LINE conversations, are not subject to the law, and there is no way to punish with article 231.
The current criminal law was executed during the Meiji Era, and most of it, including article 231, has not changed ever since.
In order to be able to correspond to the various cases of internet slander (which was the purpose of this reform), perhaps there is a need to further the article, such as the “in public” requirement.
the reform shows that the country listens to the people… when everybody wants it
One thing I personally felt with this news is that the countries do indeed move for the people.
There was massive attention brought to Ms. Kimura’s case, and it immediately went to discussions of tightening the Insults article. There were even more aggressive discussions when the very few people found guilty of the crime only had to pay ¥9,000.
I feel that there was a general sentiment amongst citizens that there was indeed a need for reform, and there was no significant opposition.
So, the country took action. It has only been about two years since Ms. Kimura took her own life, and stirred discussion, so I believe we can say that the country was very fast in taking action and placing change.
I suppose that it was not a simple decision; it was the first time that a Penal Code reform included the change in the type of punishment since its enactment 115 years ago.
However, because a large majority of the people called for it, and there was no significant opposition, the country was fast to take action.
Now, why don’t other law reforms that many people are calling for, be placed like this?
For example, why isn’t the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, the sex crime articles of the Penal Code, or the abolishment of the death penalty, being reformed?
Of course, we can say that these laws are much bigger issues; while the reform of the article on Insults was a single article, these consist of a drastic change in the legal system.
However, we can also say there are largely polarized opinions on such laws.
A certain number of people strongly call for reforms on sexual crimes, and I stand with them as well. The current law is not able to properly prosecute abusers and aggressors, while the victims suffer in silence. However, at the same time, a large part of the population either doesn’t feel the need for a reform or are clearly against it.
It is a totally different situation than what the Insults article had, leading up to this reform.
will justice win over public opinion?
Many activists attempt to pursue justice without public opinion on their side.
Perhaps the Japanese system is a challenging place for those, considering that it tends to move swiftly only with an agreeing dominant public opinion.
Will one day, justice of those who pursue it consistently, win over the power of public opinion?
References:
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/1b6a89afcb135023bea85ecf0b85a177ac14d892
ttps://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3581/en
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/8e9cadb2ce06e13f3abe3c8ce411f82d43093087?page=2