4 ms·

"In Canada, the national conviction rate is about 97%. This does not include cases in which the charges are dropped, which comprise about one-third of criminal

"In Canada, the national conviction rate is about 97%. This does not include cases in which the charges are dropped, which comprise about one-third of criminal cases. Absent Quebec, the province with the lowest conviction rate, the figure is 99%" "In Japan, the criminal justice system has a conviction rate that exceeds 99%, including guilty plea cases. This has been attributed to low prosecutorial budgets impelling understaffed prosecutors to bring only the most obviously guilty defendants to trial." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conviction_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conviction_rate

graeme 7y ago
....so the Canadian conviction rate is about 2/3 once you include dropped charges. The Japanese figure was 99% from indictment. 97% is not the comparable stat in this case.
- Zenbit_UX 7y ago
  You a kiwi? I've only ever met kiwi's with that spelling of your name (the proper one imo) although it's incredibly rare in NA.
close04 7y ago
The difference is that the Japanese system achieves those numbers in very different ways from the Canadian one [0]. > Many confessions are extracted under duress. Some of those who admit guilt are plainly innocent, as recent exonerations have shown > Common criminal suspects may be held in detention for 23 days without charge. Many have only minimal contact with a lawyer. Few interrogations are recorded, and then not in their entirety, so there is not much to stop interrogators piling in. Physical torture is rare, but sleep deprivation, which is just as effective, is common. So are various other forms of psychological coercion. Some interrogators use moral blackmail (“Think of the shame you are bringing on your family”). A few, if they are convinced that the suspect is guilty, simply fabricate a confession and press the suspect into signing it. This is as far from "justice" as it can be and puts those numbers in a very shameful light. Whether the ends justify the means is up for debate but these methods are officially incompatible with most western democracy values (the US being one major exception - Guantanamo) and more in line with authoritarian states. [0] https://www.economist.com/leaders/2015/12/05/forced-to-confess https://www.economist.com/leaders/2015/12/05/forced-to-confe...

graeme 7y ago

....so the Canadian conviction rate is about 2/3 once you include dropped charges. The Japanese figure was 99% from indictment. 97% is not the comparable stat in this case.

Zenbit_UX 7y ago
You a kiwi? I've only ever met kiwi's with that spelling of your name (the proper one imo) although it's incredibly rare in NA.

close04 7y ago

The difference is that the Japanese system achieves those numbers in very different ways from the Canadian one [0]. > Many confessions are extracted under duress. Some of those who admit guilt are plainly innocent, as recent exonerations have shown > Common criminal suspects may be held in detention for 23 days without charge. Many have only minimal contact with a lawyer. Few interrogations are recorded, and then not in their entirety, so there is not much to stop interrogators piling in. Physical torture is rare, but sleep deprivation, which is just as effective, is common. So are various other forms of psychological coercion. Some interrogators use moral blackmail (“Think of the shame you are bringing on your family”). A few, if they are convinced that the suspect is guilty, simply fabricate a confession and press the suspect into signing it. This is as far from "justice" as it can be and puts those numbers in a very shameful light. Whether the ends justify the means is up for debate but these methods are officially incompatible with most western democracy values (the US being one major exception - Guantanamo) and more in line with authoritarian states. [0] https://www.economist.com/leaders/2015/12/05/forced-to-confess https://www.economist.com/leaders/2015/12/05/forced-to-confe...