After receiving this decision, the NPA put together the Guidelines for Ensuring the Propriety of Interrogation Procedures in Police Investigations (hereafter referred to as the “Propriety Guidelines”) in January 2008, as measures the police must work on for the time being. Based on this, the police are advancing various measures.

### a. Implementation of Supervision System for Interrogation of Suspect

Based on the Propriety Guidelines, rules on supervision for a proper suspect interrogation came into force on April 1, 2009, and the supervision of suspect interrogation began. Also, on the same day, the Interrogation Instruction Office was established in the General Affairs Division in the Commissioner-General's Secretariat of the NPA, and offices in charge of interrogation supervising were set up in the general affairs or police administration departments of the Metropolitan Police Department and Prefectural Police Headquarters. The necessary system developments were thereby prepared, and work is being done for appropriate system operation.

In the interrogation supervising system of the Prefectural Police, an interrogation supervisor is appointed from among police officers of general affairs or police administration departments who are not working on criminal investigations. This supervisor checks the suspect interrogation situation, by viewing from outside interrogation rooms, reading interrogation situation reports and by other methods. These supervisors are working for effective prevention of improper conduct in interrogation.

### b. Implementation of Facilities Development and Education and Training

In order to easily understand the interrogation situation, facilities are being improved through clarifying installation standards of interrogation rooms, installing one-way mirrors, securing desks to the floor, etc.

Also, as part of enhancing education and training on proper investigations, the NPA established a new special course on interrogation, and the National Police Academy began providing education and training focused on interrogation in October 2009. Based on the Propriety Guidelines, this special course was implemented to solidly promote a series of measures targeting police inspectors in charge of criminal guidance work in the Metropolitan Police Departments and Prefectural Police Headquarters. As its main lecturers, there were lecturers from within the headquarters, and as external lecturers, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, university professors, etc. were actively invited. Efforts were made to foster insight regarding proper interrogation, and to teach specific techniques for interrogation, etc.

## 2 ) Verification of Problems in the Police Investigation of the Ashikaga Murder Case

In the Ashikaga Murder Case, a girl was kidnapped and murdered and her body disposed of in Ashikaga City in Tochigi prefecture in May 1990. A man sentenced to lifetime penal servitude in this case had his sentence annulled in June 2009, and was then released. In March 2010, the man was found innocent in retrial proceedings.

In the Ashikaga Murder Case, the innocent man was arrested in the police investigation, pressured to make a false confession, and placed in the position of suffering imprisonment for a long 17.5 years. This was an unforgivable and extremely unfortunate situation.

In June 2009, the NPA established a team to study problems in the investigation at the time. In cooperation with the Tochigi Police and other parties, the team closely studied the investigation records and public trial records, interviewed people involved in the investigation at the time, listened to opinions from experts, etc. As a result, problems were found in excessive belief in DNA assessment results, lack of consideration of the possibilities of compliance to interrogation, deficient functioning of the chief criminal investigator, lack of thorough scrutiny of the credibility of the confession, and improper storage of data obtained in the assessment. Based on these, Problems of Police Investigation in the Ashikaga Murder Case was put together in April 2010. Various measures are being promoted with the expectation of