JUSTICE DELAYED: THE CASE OF HAKAMADA IWAO AND THE IMPERATIVE FOR JUDICIAL REFORM

In law, there is a well-known maxim that says, "Let a hundred guilty go free, but not one innocent should be wrongly convicted."

- DR. PYALI CHATTERJEE

Another famous legal principle is "justice delayed is justice denied." Today, I will discuss a case that every law student should know and understand, and these two maxims can be explained in this case: the case of Hakamada Iwao from Japan, the world's longest-serving death row inmate, who was recently acquitted by a Japanese court.

Hakamada spent 46 years on death row, and after nearly half a century in prison, he was finally acquitted when it was revealed that fabricated evidence had been used against him. After spending so much time in prison, waiting for his execution, he became mentally ill. By the end of the trial, he was declared medically unfit to appear in court for the hearing of his acquittal, which was delivered last month. Hakamada had been convicted of murder and arson and sentenced to death in 1968.

The facts of the case were that Hakamada was an ex-professional boxer who was working at a miso processing plant in 1966 when tragedy befell him. The bodies of his employer, as well as the man's wife, and two children were found dead in his house after it caught fire at Shizuoka west of Tokyo. All four victims had been stabbed to death. The authorities accused Hakamada of murdering the family, burning down the house, and stealing 200,000 yen in cash. Hakamada denied charges of robbery and murder when he was first charged but subsequently produced what he now says was a coerced confession, extracted from him after several days of beatings and 12-hour-a-day interrogations.

I think by now we can understand from the facts and circumstances how much Hakamada suffered in prison due to the fabricated evidence against him. It is clear that after enduring years of mental and physical torture, anyone would likely develop severe mental health issues.