Effective Deterrence of White-collar Crime under the New “Sanctions Act,” and Reform of Criminal Justice System in Japan

Abstract

In this thesis, the author exemplifies many severe accidents caused by some white-collar offenders, which could be considered as crimes caused by the willful negligence, ignorance or misconduct. The white-collars, i.e. the organization leaders, have committed various crimes one after another without end, having a high recidivism in many cases. The criminal punishment against such white-collar crime consists of the punishment of the representative individuals and the economical penalty of fine to the organization. However, neither sanction does work as deterrence of white-collar crime. On the other hand, current administrative sanction also does not work as an effective measure, because it is too lenient as the punishment. Reviewing many accidents in Japan, the causes have been analyzed. Most of them were treated as the negligence of bottom operators, although behind such surficial causes, there were white-collar crimes of the executives and/or governmental negligence or corruptions. The root of white-collar crime is the insufficient power of the Public Prosecutors Office and the criminal act of punishment, which have been worn out since 60 years ago. Further, the knowledge and technical levels of administrative staffs in some ministries or institutions are lower than those of private corporations. Therefore, a revolutionary change is needed to deter severe accidents caused by white-collar crime. The proposals of this thesis are to establish a new prosecution system including citizens and to pass legislation of a new Sanctions Act, which cover the functions of both criminal punishment and the administrative sanction, and includes the advantages of both of them.