This presentation took place on April 8, 2020. Bruce Aronson, a USALI resident affiliated scholar, discusses Japan’s criminal justice system in a comparative context through the lens of the high-profile case of Carlos Ghosn. Ghosn, the former chief executive officer of Nissan and Renault, was detained by Japanese authorities in late 2018 on allegations of accounting and financial wrongdoing. He spent a little over a year in detention interspersed with house arrest, then smuggled himself from Japan into Lebanon in December 2019. Professor Aronson's timely presentation challenges some of the oversimplifications found in media coverage of the Ghosn case, and reflects on possible areas for reform of the Japanese criminal justice system. In order, Professor Aronson discusses (1) the historical background of the Ghosn case; (2) the substantive charges and legal procedures; (3) how Japan's criminal justice system processes cases, its famously high conviction rates and whether prolonged detention holds potential for coercion; and (4) some possible directions for reform.
Presentation Highlights
(Duration: 6:15)
Full Presentation: Part I
(Duration: 24:05)