NCJ Number
135670
Date Published
1989
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The main form of punishment provided by Japanese criminal statutes is imprisonment, but various alternatives exist to avoid the negative influence of imprisonment on certain offenders.
Abstract
Alternatives to imprisonment include an administrative penalty system for minor offenses, suspension of prosecution, fines for property offenses, simple suspension of sentence execution, suspension of execution with probation, and parole and supervision. Juvenile alternatives include probation and training school parole. The authority to determine parole for criminal offenders in Japan is vested in the regional parole board, and a panel of three board members makes final parole decisions. In order to be eligible for parole, prisoners must have served no less than one-third of their determinate sentence or 10 years of the life sentence. In parole examination, information about an inmate is obtained from institutional records. Additionally, a probation officer investigates the inmate and reports the findings to the regional parole board. The number of parolees released from prison in 1987 totaled 13,413 compared to 17,603 prisoners released after expiration of their term and a total number of 45,958 inmates. Parole procedures for juvenile training schools are similar to those for parole from prisons. Probation is the core element of community-based treatment for offenders. It aims to rehabilitate offenders and juvenile delinquents through supervision and requires compliance with conditions established to promote reintegration into the community. Offender rehabilitation services focus on those who represent the lowest probability of recidivism. 1 table