Convicted and suspected criminals were once referred to without any title, but now an effort is made to distinguish between suspects (容疑者, yōgisha), defendants (被告, hikoku), and convicts (受刑者, jukeisha), so as not to presume guilt before anything has been proven.
Terdakwa dan tersangka dulunya tidak mempunyai gelar apapun, tetapi sekarang ada usaha untuk membedakan antara tersangka (容疑者, yōgisha), terdakwa (被告, hikoku), and narapidana (受刑者, jukeisha), sehingga tidak dianggap bersalah sampai ada bukti otentik.