Judicial police - Shiho Keisatsu

Japanese: 司法警察 - しほうけいさつ

This term is a translation of "police judiciaire," and the name comes from the fact that, under the French system of separation of powers, the function of "investigating crimes and arresting suspects" carried out by police officers under the command of the investigating judge or the court prosecutor's office, which are judicial institutions, falls under judicial power and is a function in which the administrative power cannot be involved.

[Kenichi Sekine]

Prewar legislation

In Japan, after the Meiji Restoration, under the Meiji Constitution, the concept of "judicial police" existed as a legal concept. The "Prosecutor's Organization Regulations and Judicial Police Regulations" of the Dajokan (1874) No. 14 stipulated that "when the administrative police are powerless to prevent the crime and someone breaks the law, the judicial police shall search for and arrest the criminal" (Article 10). Furthermore, the "Administrative Police Regulations" (Dajokan (1875) No. 29) which was in force under the Meiji Constitution also stipulated that "when the administrative police are powerless to prevent the crime and someone breaks the law, the search for and arrest of the criminal is the duty of the judicial police, and when this is done by administrative police officials, it should be in accordance with the Prosecutor's Regulations and Judicial Police Regulations" (Chapter 1, Article 4). In academic circles, the prevailing view was that the function of the judicial police was "purely the function of punitive power, and by its very nature it belongs to the judicial branch and not the administrative branch" (Minobe Tatsukichi, "Police Law Overview 3"); however, there was also a minority opinion that the function of the judicial police "is not the function of declaring criminal law, and therefore judicial police is not a judicial function itself," and that since it is not a legislative function, "if it is neither a judicial function nor a legislative function, then it must be an administrative function" (Sasaki Soichi, "Police Law Overview").

[Kenichi Sekine]

Legislation under the current constitution

In the Anglo-American system of separation of powers under the new Constitution, the function of "investigating crimes and arresting suspects" is considered to belong to administrative power, and this function is primarily the responsibility of the police agencies stipulated in the Police Law (Article 2 of the Police Law, Article 189 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). As a result, under the current legal system, the concept of "judicial police" has disappeared in the legal system, but the function of "investigating crimes and arresting suspects," which was considered to belong to judicial power under this concept under the Meiji Constitution, is subsumed under the concept of "police" whose purpose is "maintaining public safety and order" under the legal system under the new Constitution (Article 2 of the Police Law).

[Kenichi Sekine]

Judicial police officer

The term "judicial police official" is still used under the current constitutional law, where the concept of "judicial police" no longer exists. Under the Meiji Constitution, criminal investigations were the responsibility of the judicial power, and the main actors in criminal investigations were "public prosecutors," and prefectural police officers, as "judicial police officials," merely had the position of assisting criminal investigations under the direction of public prosecutors. The old Criminal Procedure Code stipulated that "When a public prosecutor believes that a crime has been committed, he or she shall investigate the perpetrator and evidence," and that "the following individuals shall, as assistants to the public prosecutor, receive his or her direction and investigate crimes as judicial police officials: 1. Prefectural police officers."

Under the new constitution, the affairs of criminal investigation are placed under administrative power, and police officers, who are employees of administrative agencies, are made to perform duties as "judicial police officials", and it is stipulated in Article 189 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that "when judicial police officials believe that a crime has been committed, they shall investigate the perpetrator and the evidence", making "judicial police officials" the main actors in criminal investigations. Incidentally, while police officers have the status of judicial police officials for all crimes, there are also special police officials, such as coast guard officers and prison officials, who perform the duties of judicial police officials only in special cases.

[Kenichi Sekine]

[References] | Police

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

この語はpolice judiciaireの訳語であって、フランス型の権力分立制度の下において、司法機関たる予審判事または裁判所検事局の指揮の下に、警察官が行う「犯罪の捜査、被疑者の逮捕」の作用が司法権に属させられており、行政権が関与することのできない作用であるところから、この名称がある。

［関根謙一］

戦前の法制

わが国においても、明治維新以後、明治憲法下においては、法制上の概念として「司法警察」の概念が存在していた。明治7年（1874）太政官(だじょうかん)達14号の「検事職制章程並司法警察規則」は、「司法警察ハ行政警察予防ノ力及ハスシテ法律ニ背ク者アル時其(その)犯人ヲ探索シテ之(これ)ヲ逮捕スルモノトス」（第10条）と定め、さらに、明治憲法下においても効力を有していた「行政警察規則」（明治8年太政官達29号）もまた、「行政警察予防ノ力及ハスシテ法律ニ背ク者アルトキ其犯人ヲ探索逮捕スルハ司法警察ノ職務トス之ヲ行政警察ノ官ニ於(おい)テ行フトキハ検事章程並司法警察規則ニ照スヘシ」（第1章第4条）と規定していた。学説上は、この司法警察の作用は、「純然たる刑罰権の作用で、性質上司法に属し行政に属するものではない」（美濃部(みのべ)達吉『警察法概論三』）とする説が通説であったが、他方、司法警察の作用そのものは、「刑罰法を宣言するの作用ではないから、司法警察は司法作用其のものではない」し、また、それは、立法作用でもないから、「司法作用でもなく、立法作用でもないとせば、行政作用であるの外はない」（佐々木惣一(そういち)『警察法概論』）とする説も、少数説として対立していた。

［関根謙一］

現行憲法下の法制

新憲法下における英米型の権力分立制度においては、「犯罪の捜査、被疑者の逮捕」の作用は行政権に属するものとされ、この作用は、第一次的に、警察法に規定する警察機関が担当することとされた（警察法2条、刑事訴訟法189条）。その結果、現行法制下においては、「司法警察」の概念は法制上消滅することになったが、明治憲法下においてこの概念の下に司法権に属するとされていた「犯罪の捜査、被疑者の逮捕」の作用は、新憲法下の法制においては、「公共の安全と秩序の維持」を目的とする「警察」の概念の下に包摂されている（警察法2条）。

［関根謙一］

司法警察職員

「司法警察」の概念が存在しなくなった現行憲法下の法制においても、「司法警察職員」の語は使用されている。明治憲法下においては、犯罪捜査の事務が司法権に属させられていたので、犯罪捜査の主体は「検察官」であって、庁府県の警察官等は、「司法警察職員」として、検察官の指揮を受けて犯罪の捜査を補助する地位を有するにすぎなかった。旧刑事訴訟法は、「検察官犯罪アリト思料スルトキハ犯人及証拠ヲ捜査スヘシ」「左ニ掲クル者ハ検察官ノ輔佐トシテ其ノ指揮ヲ受ケ司法警察職員トシテ犯罪ヲ捜査スヘシ　一　庁府県ノ警察官」と規定していた。

　新憲法下においては、犯罪捜査の事務は行政権に属させられるとともに、行政機関の職員たる警察官を「司法警察職員」として職務を行うべき者としたうえで、「司法警察職員は、犯罪があると思料するときは、犯人及び証拠を捜査するものとする」（刑事訴訟法189条）と規定して、「司法警察職員」を犯罪捜査の主体としている。ちなみに、警察官は、すべての犯罪につき司法警察職員としての地位を有しているが、そのほかに、特別の事項についてのみ司法警察職員としての職務を行う海上保安官、刑務職員等の特別警察職員が存在する。

［関根謙一］

[参照項目] | 警察

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