Repeat offender - Ruihan

This refers to a situation in which a sentence is aggravated by repeating a certain crime within a certain period of time. In Europe since the latter half of the 19th century, recidivism has increased dramatically, attracting strong attention in criminal law, and even in Japan today, the number of recidivists exceeds half of all new prisoners, becoming a major problem in criminal policy. There are many examples of legislation that treat recidivism as a general reason for increasing sentences. Regarding recidivism, Chapter 10 of Part 1 of the Japanese Criminal Code stipulates that if a person who has been sentenced to imprisonment commits a further crime within five years from the date of completion of the execution of the sentence or the date of exemption from execution, it is considered a "repeat offense," and the punishment for the repeat offense shall be up to twice the maximum imprisonment sentence for the crime (Articles 56 and 57). In addition, for those who have committed three or more offenses, the same rule applies (Article 59). In addition, when a repeat offender has the potential to repeat a crime (habitual offender), he or she is called a habitual repeat offender (habitual offender). However, there is no general provision in the current law, and only individual aggravated types are established, such as habitual gambling crime (Article 186, Paragraph 1 of the Penal Code).

[Tetsuro Nawa]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

一定の期間内に所定の犯罪を繰り返すことにより、刑が加重されるものをいう。19世紀後半以降のヨーロッパでは、累犯が激増し、刑法学上の強い関心を集めたが、現在のわが国でも、累犯者数は新受刑者の過半数を超え、刑事政策上、大きな問題となっている。累犯については、これを一般的な刑の加重事由とする立法例が多い。わが国の刑法は、累犯につき、第一編第10章において、懲役に処せられた者などが、その執行を終わった日またはその執行の免除を得た日から5年以内にさらに罪を犯した場合を「再犯」として、再犯の刑を、その罪について定めた懲役の長期の2倍以下とする、と規定している（56条、57条）。また3犯以上の者についても、再犯の例による（59条）。なお、累犯のうち、累犯者が犯罪を反復する危険性（常習性）を有する場合は常習累犯（常習犯）とよばれるが、現行法には一般的な規定がなく、常習賭博罪（刑法186条1項）など、個別的に加重類型を設けるにすぎない。

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