Held ‘hostage’ by police? Carlos Ghosn’s arrest highlights Japan’s overreliance on extracting confessions from suspects

The shock arrest of former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn has thrown the international spotlight onto Japan’s criminal justice system, where suspects face prolonged detention and interrogation without lawyers present.

Rights groups, lawyers and legal scholars have for years criticised the system, which relies heavily on squeezing out a “confession” from a suspect following lengthy and gruelling questioning.

After extracting this confession, prosecutors nearly always secure a conviction at trial, as an admission of guilt usually outweighs all other evidence.

Colin Jones, a professor at Doshisha Law School, wrote recently in the Japan Times that the system is often referred to as “hitojichi shiho” or “hostage-based justice system.”

“The ‘hostage’ is the suspect. The ‘ransom’ is their confession,” wrote Jones.

But despite international criticism, there is little public appetite for change, as Japan’s safe streets mean ordinary people have virtually no experience of crime and often view it as an abstract concept.