OSAKA —
Police did not break the law by installing GPS tracking devices in the cars of suspected criminals without obtaining warrants, the Osaka High Court said Wednesday.
There was “no major illegality” in the police action, the appeals court said as it reversed an Osaka District Court judgment last July that said the investigation was “illegal,” and upheld a sentence of five and a half years in prison for a 44-year-old man.
The man from Osaka Prefecture was arrested in December 2013 on suspicion of stealing cars and other items mainly in the Kansai region in western Japan between 2012 and 2013, according to the ruling.
The defendant initially pleaded guilty but later appealed on the grounds that the gathering of evidence without a warrant was illegal.
The lower court excluded from evidence the information gathered in the warrantless investigation.
According to hearings in the lower court, five prefectural police departments—Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nagasaki and Kumamoto—installed GPS devices in 19 cars, including the defendant’s, for about half a year for investigation purposes without obtaining warrants.
In the appeal trial, lawyers for the defendant argued that “the level of illegality was extremely high because investigation through GPS should not be carried out without legislation.” Japan’s Criminal Procedure Law has no provisions directly referring to GPS operations.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, insisted warrants were not needed as GPS terminals simply provided information that was available to the public.
source:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/...s-by-police-without-warrant-not-illegal-court
Well....not many western countries could get away with that. Japan has the right to be Japan though, don't they. You have to love the phrase "no major illegality” that the court uses to describe the police actions here. So, if it was just a little illegal, no harm done right? I love Japan.
Police did not break the law by installing GPS tracking devices in the cars of suspected criminals without obtaining warrants, the Osaka High Court said Wednesday.
There was “no major illegality” in the police action, the appeals court said as it reversed an Osaka District Court judgment last July that said the investigation was “illegal,” and upheld a sentence of five and a half years in prison for a 44-year-old man.
The man from Osaka Prefecture was arrested in December 2013 on suspicion of stealing cars and other items mainly in the Kansai region in western Japan between 2012 and 2013, according to the ruling.
The defendant initially pleaded guilty but later appealed on the grounds that the gathering of evidence without a warrant was illegal.
The lower court excluded from evidence the information gathered in the warrantless investigation.
According to hearings in the lower court, five prefectural police departments—Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nagasaki and Kumamoto—installed GPS devices in 19 cars, including the defendant’s, for about half a year for investigation purposes without obtaining warrants.
In the appeal trial, lawyers for the defendant argued that “the level of illegality was extremely high because investigation through GPS should not be carried out without legislation.” Japan’s Criminal Procedure Law has no provisions directly referring to GPS operations.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, insisted warrants were not needed as GPS terminals simply provided information that was available to the public.
source:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/...s-by-police-without-warrant-not-illegal-court
Well....not many western countries could get away with that. Japan has the right to be Japan though, don't they. You have to love the phrase "no major illegality” that the court uses to describe the police actions here. So, if it was just a little illegal, no harm done right? I love Japan.
