Preliminary hearing - Yoshin

This refers to a pretrial procedure in which, after the public prosecutor has filed charges, the investigating judge investigates the matters necessary to decide whether or not to send the defendant's case to a public trial (see Article 295, paragraph 1 of the former Code of Criminal Procedure). When there was sufficient suspicion to send the defendant to a public trial, the investigating judge was to make a decision to send the defendant's case to a public trial. This system of pretrial examination was used from the Japanese Criminal Justice Act (promulgated in 1880), which inherited French law, until the former Code of Criminal Procedure (promulgated in 1922). However, this procedure was closed to the public, the presence of a defense lawyer was not permitted during questioning of the defendant, and the pretrial transcript was unconditionally admissible as evidence at the trial date, making it a fairly interrogatory-oriented system. Therefore, the current Code of Criminal Procedure (promulgated in 1948) strengthened the trial-centered approach and abolished this system. Germany also abolished the pretrial examination system in 1975. France still maintains the pretrial system today, having improved its inquisitorial elements.

[Ichiro Uchida and Morikazu Taguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

検察官の公訴提起を受けて、予審判事が被告事件を公判に付すべきか否かを決定するために必要な事項を取り調べる公判前の訴訟手続をいう（旧刑事訴訟法295条1項参照）。公判に付するに足りる嫌疑があるときは、予審判事は決定をもって、被告事件を公判に付する言渡しをなすべきものとされていた。この予審の制度は、フランス法を継受した日本の治罪法（1880年公布）以来、旧刑事訴訟法（1922年公布）に至るまで採用されていたが、この手続は非公開で、被告人の尋問には弁護人の立会いを認めず、また予審調書は公判期日において無条件で証拠能力を有するなど、かなり糾問主義的制度であったので、現行刑事訴訟法（1948年公布）は公判中心主義を強化し、この制度を廃止した。なお、ドイツも1975年に予審制度を廃止した。フランスは、予審の糾問主義的要素を改善したうえで、今日でも予審制度を維持している。

［内田一郎・田口守一］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例