The investigator's report from the Supreme Court's 1980 decision in the Minamata disease patient's injury trial is discovered.

When the Supreme Court made its decision in 1980 in a criminal trial in which a man suffering from Minamata disease was accused of causing injury to an employee of the company Chisso, an undisclosed report compiled by an investigator was discovered to assist the judge in his arguments. The focus of the trial was whether there were cases in which the prosecution's indictment (public prosecution) should be invalidated as unfair, and the Supreme Court set extremely strict hurdles. This is a valuable document that provides insight into the background of decisions that influenced subsequent court practice.

The incident occurred in 1972. A skirmish broke out after employees formed a scrum and blocked Teruo Kawamoto (deceased) of the Minamata Disease Patient Federation and others from visiting Chisso's headquarters to negotiate compensation. Kawamoto was charged with causing minor injuries to multiple employees.

At trial, the issue was whether the prosecutor had committed an ``abuse of the right to prosecute'' by indicting a case that should not have been prosecuted. The Tokyo District Court of the first instance found Kawamoto guilty with a fine of 50,000 yen and a one-year suspended sentence, but the Tokyo High Court of the second instance agreed with the defense's argument that the prosecution was ``discriminatory'' and decided to terminate the trial and dismiss the prosecution. They focused on the government's responsibility for failing to prevent the spread of Minamata disease, and on the fact that Chisso was not prosecuted even though patients and patients were injured in the skirmish.

The focus of the First Petty Bench of the Supreme Court was whether the idea of ​​abuse of public prosecution rights could be accepted. The investigator who assisted in the deliberations was Yasuo Watanabe (deceased). The investigator will be a judge with experience in district courts, etc., who will examine the facts of the case, examine past court precedents and academic theories, and compile a report. Supreme Court judges will use this as a basis for their arguments.

What did the investigator write? “The positive theory is better.”

In his report, Mr. Watanabe discusses general issues and...