Japanese Judge Who Posted About 'Sexual Arousal' in High School Girl Murder Case Ultimately Dismissed

Law: "Exceeded the Permissible Scope of Freedom of Expression"

A judge at a high court in Japan was ultimately dismissed for posting inappropriate content on X (formerly Twitter), including defamation against the bereaved families of a murder case. This is the first time in about 11 years that a judge has been dismissed in Japan.

According to Kyodo News and others, on the 3rd, the Japanese National Diet’s Judge Impeachment Court ruled to dismiss Judge Kiiichi Okaguchi, who was impeached for inappropriate social networking service (SNS) posts. Judge Okaguchi cannot appeal the ruling and will be barred from practicing law for at least five years.

The court viewed several posts made by Judge Okaguchi as "gross misconduct." It also pointed out that his continued posting on SNS even after receiving protests from the bereaved families of the murder victims "exceeded the limits permitted by freedom of expression."

Judge Okaguchi Kiichi (front row, right) is entering the Tokyo Court Impeachment Tribunal on the 3rd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Previously, Judge Okaguchi sparked controversy by posting on SNS about a high school girl murder case that occurred in Tokyo in 2017, with comments such as "a man sexually aroused by the sight of a strangled victim struggling" and "a 17-year-old woman brutally murdered." Immediately after, he explained, "I thought it was a death penalty case, but since it was life imprisonment, I judged the sentencing to be strange and introduced it."

The following year, his SNS posts again caused problems. Judge Okaguchi wrote about a civil lawsuit between a person who found and raised a dog abandoned in a park and the original owner, saying, "What? You? You abandoned this dog." The plaintiff woman strongly protested to the court, claiming defamation of her honor. The Tokyo High Court also imposed sanctions on Judge Okaguchi, stating, "As a judge, he used expressions that seemed to mock without confirming the judgment details, unilaterally criticizing and hurting the parties involved."

This is the first time since 2013 that a judge in Japan has been dismissed through a trial. At that time, a judicial assistant judge (with less than 10 years of experience) at the Osaka District Court was dismissed by the impeachment court after being caught illegally filming under a female passenger’s skirt on the subway. In addition, judges who committed sexual crimes such as stalking a court female employee and engaging in sex with minors were dismissed in 2008 and 2001, respectively.

With Judge Okaguchi’s impeachment, the number of judges dismissed in Japan since the Pacific War has risen to eight. However, this is the first time a dismissal decision has been made against a judge based on the act of posting on SNS.