Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1919-08-14
JAPANESE COURTS
SIMPLE AND QUIET
No WrangIing of Counsel Allowed
and Sentences Generally
Are Fair.
CASES TRIED WITHOUT JURY
Many Unusual Points Of Difference
Between American Tribunals and
Their counterparts In Japan
Minor Cases to Police.


Minor Cases to Police.
TOkyo.-A Japanese criminal court
Is almost as difficult to get into as
spectator as it Is difficult to get out of
as prisoner, but there are enough IN
usual points of difference between
American tribunals and their counter
parts in Japan to make at least one
visit instructive, If not profitable.
Criminal trials In Japan are public,
but not blatantly so, and idle curl.
osity Ia not encouraged. To be per.
United to even enter the grounds sur.
rounding the court buildings one must
secure the formal permission of the
stern police official at the gate, and
that permission IL only secured through
the presentation Of some good reason
why the solicitor should be permitted
to pass.
Once past the guardian Of the gate,
however, one may proceed into the
courtroom itself without trouble, pro-
vided always that he removes his hat
Immediately he enters the building, re.
moves his OvercOat, II he happens to
be wearing one, walks quietly and
holds his remarks and questions down
to faint whisper, In the main court
house In Tokyo which houses the SUI.
prems court and the various local
courts. corresponding to the American
circuit courts, the corridors are lined
during the session by be-swOrded gen.
darmes between the rows of which the
one with business before the judges
warily walks. No chance Is lost to
impress upon everyone the fact that
the dignity Of the law In Japan Is
something which must not be trifled
with.
Minor Cases to Police.
Ordinary police court cases in Japan
are disposed Of In the police stations
themselves and the police inspectors
in charge have the power to exercise
a wide discretion. Ordinary DRINKS,
Of whom there are very few consider
ing that almost every corner grocery
store and every tea house and restau-
rant sells intOxicants. and there are
saki shops every hundred yards on al
most every street. are simply kept
long enough to sober up and are dis
charged with stern warning.
Domestic squabbles are settled by
the policemen on the beats.
Once he has been sent to headquar.
tiers a prisoners troubles commence.
AS a preliminary to all else he is pho
tographed and finger printed. de.
cided reversal of the American prin:
ciple, which bars man from the
rogIas' galrry until he has been con:
v.ated If II f"iOny. ,9m the Ii,o,o,
graph room aid tn, Ink lad the rI.n
onar p: ases or for h's "examinat' on"
Il lv.;..l.%,d third degree, he ID Ia al IL.
derground room where, without bene-
fit Of counsel, he Is sweated, perhaps
for several days in succession.
Then after waiting his turn the pris
oner goes to the local court, where he
faces bench Of usually four judges.
one of whom is head judge and who
does all the questioning Of the wit
nesses. On the bench also sits the
prosecuting lawyer, with the lawyer
for the defense occupying a desk and
seat Immediately facing the head
judi,
Everything Is solemn, everything Is
decorOus and, without jury to ini-
press, there are none of those flights
Of oratory with which the American
lawyers call upon heaven to witness
either the scandalous nature of the
prisoners crime or the halo of limo
cence so plain to the attorney for the
defense. The prisoners sit In pris-
oners' box until their case Is called,
when they stand one by one before the
judges and are polished off In rapid
succession. Witnesses are not sworn,
nor are there any bewildering laws of
evidence that furnish legal arguments,
grounds for appeal and keep any one
from telling all that he knows and
suspects. The criminal code is that Of
Napoleon and the procedure Is prac-
ticlly that of the French courts.
Handling Of Prisoners.
The handling Of the prisoners is pure
japanese, however. Delivered at the
courthouse for trial, the prisoners are
marched from the police wagon in
single file handcuffed and tied togeth-
or by stout rope that circles each
mans waist and Is twisted through his
obi. Their Jail kimonos are Of dull
drab and on their sockless feet are
grass sandals. in which they flop
through the corridors.
The most unusual feature of all to
stranger is the fact that each prisoner
has his head covered by wicker
mask, more like an inverted waste
paper basket than anything else, the
object of which Is to prevent recogni-
ton Of the prisoner, to permit him to
hide his shame under the disguise and,
very possibly, to prevent the whole
file from making a bolt for liberty.
The sight Of prisoner so arrayed Is
CHASTITY, the mask bringing up the sug-
gestion of the hangman's cap. Once
in the prisoners box, however,, the
masks are removed, while the prison
ers sit with deeply bowed heads in an
attitude of the utmost humility.
Japanese courts have the name Of
being fair and the bench is honest.