Paper short abstract:

Controversial laws that expanded police powers were enacted during the tenure of PM Shinzo Abe, including a state secrecy law, expanded wiretapping authority and the crime of “conspiracy.” We will examine these laws and their impact on society, especially on free speech and other individual rights.

Paper long abstract:

One of the enduring achievements of the Abe Administration was a dramatic enhancement of police powers. Between 2012 and 2020, the long period when Shinzo Abe served as Prime Minister, the Diet passed several landmark laws that increased police powers, including a state secrecy act, laws that expanded police wiretapping ability and introduced “plea bargaining,” and, perhaps of greatest significance, legislation that created the new crime of “conspiracy.”

Because these laws present significant threats to individual rights, they were all opposed by opposition parties, news media, bar associations, and civil society groups. They had been on the Ministry of Justice wish list for many years. Only Abe’s determination and unique political power made these changes possible.

The first item on the agenda was the state secrecy act, passed by the Diet in December 2013, one year after Abe took office. It empowers government officials to designate broad categories of information secret and creates severe penalties for public disclosure, including a maximum five-year prison term for anyone found guilty of “instigating” or “inciting” a leak, a rule that can even be applied to news reporters.

2016 legislation expanded police authority to use wiretaps and enables police to conduct wiretaps at police offices rather than at telecommunications companies. The same law empowered Japan’s prosecutors to utilize “plea bargaining” for the first time, empowering them to a make agreements with suspects or defendants to reduce or drop charges in exchange for information related to another person’s case.

A 2017 law created the new crime of conspiracy, which can be applied to a vast range of activities. Like the other new police laws, it was widely opposed. Opponents included even UN special rapporteur Joseph Cannataci. He pointed to several troubling aspects of the statute, including its potential role in expanding police surveillance. In Cannataci’s words, in order to establish the "preparatory actions" required by a conspiracy indictment, individuals to be charged could be subject to “a considerable level of surveillance beforehand.”

This paper will describe the political battle over this Abe-era legislation and the ongoing significance of the new police powers.