The so-called "Miura Fever" has swept the nation over the past 20 months since the weekly magazine <Bungei-Shunju>___- published an article voicing skepticism about the Los Angels murder case. The news of Mr. Miura's arrest gave the public the impression of the importer being guilty before his innocence was proven. He was arrested as a suspect only on charge of a slight injury done to his former wife. Even if he had commited a crime he has no reason to suffer such abusive reports by mass media. By and large, the Japanese public seems to have accustomed to reading newspapers or watching TV reporting of criminal suspects in which reporters treat arrested persons as though they were already convicted. Kenichi Asano, author of "The Crime of Criminal Reporting", calls crime reporters "The police with a pen". He reached a conclusion that the best way to avoid victims of journalists' reporting is not to reveal suspects' names at all. By publishing criminal suspects' names, the media have penalized them even before the police started investigation. Referring to cases involving false charges, it takes many years for a person to legally restore his/her rights and life. Many defamatory publications might be dealt with either in the civil courts, or the criminal courts. A defamer could be sent to prison or made to pay for damages - this is Libel and Slander. Although the law of libel may seem severlly applied to newspapers, it was codified (according to articles 13 and 21 of our constitution and item 230-2 of our Criminal Law) in such a way as to protect the legitimate functions of a free Press while still protecting the reputation of individuals. In England, contempt of court has existed in the common law for many centuries to protect the administration of justice against interference of any kind. Contempt of Court Act 1981 gave journalists greater protection against being held liable for unintentional contempt because of the danger of prejudice in a particular case. Without having such act, Japanese journalists must try to report with the decencies. We consider "The presumption of innocence" - a man is presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty - to be the outstanding principle of a modern criminal law. Crime reporting can and will be changed as people's awareness of human rights improves.
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