Overview
- Tokyo prosecutors re‑indicted a man in his 30s in July for refusing a court order to unlock and provide all data from his seized smartphone, marking the first nationwide prosecution under the new system introduced in May.
- The electronic record provision order, added to Japan’s Code of Criminal Procedure and effective this May, lets police or prosecutors with a judge’s warrant compel businesses or individuals to deliver electronic data rather than just physical storage.
- The law carries criminal penalties of up to one year in jail or a fine up to ¥3 million for unjustified refusal, and Tokyo prosecutors obtained a summary court warrant that specifically ordered the defendant to produce “all data recorded on the smartphone.”
- At the first trial in September the defendant’s lawyers argued the order is unconstitutional because forcing a suspect to unlock a device can amount to compelled self‑incrimination, while prosecutors counter that asking for data access is not the same as forcing testimony.
- The case puts practical and legal questions on the calendar: courts must set limits on when the state can force device access, and the outcome could change how investigators use the order and how individuals and service providers protect digital privacy.