今年も死刑執行なし、、なぜ？
✍️記事要約
昨年に続き、今年も死刑の執行がありませんでした。土日祝日と12月29日から1月3日までは執行できない決まりなので、次は月曜の来年1月6日以降になります。すでに2年半近くも執行がなく、ネット上では「死刑が確定している以上、執行するのが法治国家としての筋だ」という意見が示される一方で、「再審無罪の可能性を考慮し、慎重に行うべきだ」といった声も上がっています。問題の背景を含め、理解の参考となる記事をまとめました。
刑事訴訟法は死刑の確定から6カ月以内に法務大臣が執行を命じなければならないと規定しています。しかし、再審請求や恩赦出願などが行われて手続が終了するまでの期間は算入されない決まりなので、これらを繰り返すと、判決確定後、なかなか6カ月にみたないことになります。
そうでなくてもこのルールは守られておらず、死刑確定から執行までの平均期間は8年程度に上っています。裁判で問題となったこともありますが、裁判所は法務大臣の職務上の義務ではあるものの、この規定に反したからといって違法とはならず、法的拘束力もないと判断しました。執行すれば取り返しがつかず、慎重を期す必要があることから、政府も同様の立場です。
2年半近くにわたる死刑執行ゼロは袴田事件に対する再審無罪などが影響しているとみられますが、過去にも死刑囚への再審無罪が4件続いたあと、約3年4カ月にわたって執行がありませんでした。
袴田事件では47年7カ月の拘束に対して2億円超の刑事補償が見込まれていますが、弁護団はさらに国賠訴訟の提起も視野に入れています。その影響を踏まえると、来年も当面は死刑の執行に対する慎重な姿勢が続くのではないかと思われます。
■英訳
For the second consecutive year, no executions were carried out in Japan. As executions cannot be conducted on weekends, public holidays, or between December 29 and January 3, the next possible date would be Monday, January 6, next year. However, it has already been nearly two and a half years since the last execution. Online opinions are divided: some argue that “carrying out executions as scheduled is the proper course of action for a law-abiding nation,” while others contend that “considering the possibility of acquittal in retrials, careful deliberation is necessary.”
To provide a better understanding of the issue, including its background, here’s a summary:
Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Minister of Justice must order the execution of a death sentence within six months of its finalization. However, the time taken for retrial requests or clemency applications is excluded from this six-month period. As these procedures are often repeated, the six-month deadline is rarely met.
Even without these delays, the rule itself is not strictly adhered to, with the average time from sentencing to execution now approximately eight years. While this has been challenged in court, the judiciary has ruled that, although it is a ministerial duty, failure to comply with the regulation is not illegal and has no binding legal force. Given the irreversible nature of executions, the government shares the judiciary’s cautious stance.
The lack of executions over the past two and a half years is believed to have been influenced by the Hakamada case, in which a retrial resulted in acquittal. Similarly, after four death row inmates were acquitted in retrials in the past, there was a period of about three years and four months with no executions.
In the Hakamada case, over 2 billion yen in criminal compensation is expected for his 47 years and 7 months of detention. Furthermore, the defense team is reportedly considering filing a state compensation lawsuit. Considering the potential implications of such cases, it seems likely that the government will maintain its cautious stance on executions in the coming year as well.
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