Penal Code of Japan

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Penal Code of Japan" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (January 2017) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Japanese article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 1,262 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:刑法 (日本)]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|ja|刑法 (日本)}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

The Penal Code (刑法 Keihō) of Japan was passed in 1907 as Law No. 45. It is one of six Codes that form the foundation of modern Japanese law. The penal code is also called “ordinary criminal law” or “general criminal law” as it relates to general crimes. Criminal law in the practical sense refers not only to the content of the criminal code, but also to all legal norms that specify the requirements for the consequences of a crime and the content of the penalty as a legal effect imposed on a person. It may also include a law regarding security measures, which is a supplementary system.

The Penal Code of 1907 is subdivided into 2 parts, 50 chapters and comprises 264 articles.

The criminal law is classified as substantive law as it defines the contents of crimes and penalties and clarifies the conditions under which a country can carry out a punishment. On the other hand, it is mainly the Criminal Procedure Code that stipulates how an investigation/trial should actually be carried out when a crime in the Criminal Code is committed. Furthermore, it is the Criminal Treatment Law that defines the method of actually executing a punishment. These fields of law are collectively referred to as "criminal law," but criminal law is positioned as the central law of criminal law.

Also, when the legal system is divided into public law and private law, it is understood that it belongs to public law in Japan.

Regulatory function

The function that clarifies the evaluation of actions is called the regulatory function. By describing certain acts as crimes, criminalizing those who do such actions by punishing for criminal acts, it helps to keep the general public from committing those acts.

Protective function (legal protection function)

The function of protecting legal interests and maintaining order in social life by adding sanctions to infringement of certain legal interests (profit that should be protected by law) is called a protective function. Also known as order maintenance function.

Guarantee function (human rights guarantee function)

The criminal law stipulates certain acts as crimes, and the punishment for them is specified in advance. General citizens are not punished unless they commit a crime, and criminals are punished only within that range. In this way, the function that guarantees the freedom of the general public and those who commit crimes by limiting the use of the state's punishment right is called a guarantee function. Also called Magna Carta function.

The criminal penal code refers to the criminal code relating to the punishment of acts that are thought of as morally wrong and are considered punishable. In Japanese law, in addition to the criminal code, explosives control and punishment for violent acts, etc. belong to the criminal penal code.

In order to achieve the administrative purpose, the criminal law regarding the punishment of acts that violate administrative laws is called the administrative criminal law. Administrative criminal law has weaker moral elements and stronger administrative elements than criminal criminal law. As it covers all areas of administrative regulations such as tax and economic criminal law, its content is also extensive.

(In progress)

• Crime in Japan
• Criminal justice system of Japan

• Japanese Law Translation - Penal Code - Japanese Ministry of Justice

This article about the law of Japan is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e