英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun July 20, 2013
Crime victims’ names should be kept anonymous in some cases
性犯罪の起訴状　被害者匿名が必要な時もある（7月19日付・読売社説）

Should the real names of victims of crimes be mentioned in an indictment? In a rare development, the court and prosecutors involved in a case are locking horns on the matter.
　起訴状に被害者の実名を記載すべきかどうか。裁判所と検察が対立する異例の事態である。

In a bill of indictment for an indecent assault charge, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office left out the name of the victim, who was a minor. The Tokyo District Court disputed the omission and called for the name to be given.
　東京地検が強制わいせつ事件の起訴状に、被害児童の氏名を匿名で記載したことに対し、東京地裁は実名を記すよう求めた。

If prosecutors refuse to comply with the court’s request, it is feared that hearings for the case will be canceled following the dismissal of the prosecution.
検察側が応じない場合、公訴が棄却されて裁判が行われない恐れもある。

The minor in the case was assaulted in an indecent manner in a park restroom. In response to a complaint filed by the child’s parents, the prosecutors indicted a man in his 20s. The parents told the prosecutors up front they would “withdraw the complaint if the child’s name were revealed.”
　児童が公園のトイレで、わいせつ行為をされた事件だ。地検は児童の両親の告訴を受け、２０歳代の男を起訴した。両親は当初、「氏名を出すなら告訴を取り下げる」と地検に伝えた。

This is probably because they feared the accused might harbor a potentially dangerous grudge against their child, among other concerns.
逆恨みなどを恐れてのことだろう。

Law murky on issue

Indecent assault is an offense that can only be prosecuted after a complaint is filed. Therefore, indictment is not possible without a complaint. The prosecutors, it may be said, had no choice but to withhold the victim’s name in the indictment to prevent the family from having to bear the burden of the offense on their own.
　強制わいせつ罪は親告罪で、告訴がなければ、起訴できない。被害者側の泣き寝入りを防ぐためにも、地検が起訴状の記載を匿名にしたのは、やむを得ない措置だったと言える。

The child was presumably selected at random by the accused. Even before the assault, the alleged offender was not aware of the name of his victim. Disclosing the name in the prosecution process could become problematic from the standpoint of protecting victims of crimes.
　被告は行きずりで児童を対象にした。元々、児童の氏名を知らない。訴追手続きでわざわざ教えることになるのは、被害者保護の観点からも問題があろう。

The district court took issue with the prosecution’s omission out of concern that withholding the victim’s name would undermine the criminal trial system, which is based on the use of real names. Though there is no such specific requirement in the Criminal Procedure Code, in principle the victim’s name is usually mentioned in addition to other information such as the time and date of the crime committed against that person.
　一方、地裁が疑義を呈したのは、刑事裁判の実名主義が揺らぐことへの懸念からだ。刑事訴訟法に明文規定はないものの、犯行日時などのほか、被害者の実名を起訴状に記すのが原則とされてきた。

Behind this practice is the idea that if the victim’s name, which is an indispensable element in establishing a crime, is not identified, it could disadvantage the accused when the defense is making a rebuttal.
　被害者の氏名は犯罪事実の確定に欠かせない要素であり、それが特定されていなければ、被告側が反論する際に支障をきたすという考え方が背景にある。

In fact, in trials over molestation and other crimes, lawyers have proved the accused’s innocence by constructing an effective defense based on information gathered through acquaintances of people claiming to be victims.
　実際、痴漢事件などでは、被告の弁護人が“被害者”の周辺調査などで反証を集め、被告の無罪を立証した例が複数ある。

Still, it should not be assumed that the names of sex crime victims should always be withheld in indictments.
　性犯罪を理由に、むやみに匿名記載を一般化すべきではない。

Overly strict stance

In the case in question, the accused has not disputed the facts presented. If the child’s name remains hidden, it should not negatively affect the court hearings. The district court’s request for disclosure of the name seems to be an excessively rigid stance.
　今回の事件では、被告側も事実関係について争う姿勢を見せていない。児童の氏名が明記されていなくても、公判に問題は生じないのではないか。実名記載を求めた東京地裁の対応は、杓子(しゃくし)定規に過ぎると言えよう。

The need to protect victims in judicial procedures was highlighted in connection with a stalking and murder case that occurred last autumn in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture.
　司法手続きで被害者保護の必要性が指摘されたのは昨秋、神奈川県逗子市で起きたストーカー殺人事件だ。

When police read the victim’s address aloud as written on the arrest warrant, the offender was made aware of the victim’s whereabouts and found the new address after being released from jail. This provoked the final tragedy in which the victim was murdered.
警察が逮捕状に記された被害者の住所を読み上げたため、加害者に転居先を知られ、釈放後の惨劇につながったとされる。

In a trial at the Kobe District Court’s Himeji branch, a victim’s name was written in katakana on an indictment. This is one example showing that trial and error continue on this issue on the judicial front.
　神戸地裁姫路支部の裁判では、起訴状の被害者名をカタカナで表記したケースがある。司法の現場で試行錯誤が続いている。

The Supreme Court’s Training and Research Institute for Court Officials will soon investigate the issue of anonymity by reviewing cases that have set precedents on the matter. It is essential for the results of such research to be utilized to help judges facing these kinds of decisions.
　最高裁の司法研修所は近く、匿名問題に関する事例を集め、検証を行う。その結果を各裁判官の判断に役立てることが肝要だ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 19, 2013)
（2013年7月19日01時49分 読売新聞）