"保釈請求書" is available for the Defendant and their Family member to use in Japanese criminal courts.©2024 Takashi Kawaguchi
We pray that you (the defendant) who are indicted in Japan will receive a Fair Criminal Trial🙏
This article is an English translation of the following article by the author.
本稿は、筆者の以下の記事を英訳した内容です。
「保釈請求書（家族）」と「保釈請求書（被告人）」の書式を公開します【起訴された被告人とご家族へ】
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| This image is Created by Copilot. ©️Microsoft |
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| If the defendant's family members file this "①保釈請求書（家族）" to the court, the judge will review the bail. A second page must be filed to verify the family member's personal information and relationship to the family member. |
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| If the defendant file this "②保釈請求書（被告人）" to the court, the judge will review the bail. |
"保釈請求書" is available for the Defendant and their Family member to use in Japanese criminal courts.
The author recommends the use of trying to request bail immediately after indictment.
Please ensure you read the [Important Notes] and the entire description carefully before using this service.
[Important Notes]
Important Notes About the "保釈請求書"
・Disclaimer: The creator of this document accept no liability for its use. You must use it At your own risk.
・Document Integrity: This document has been created by an attorney well-versed in criminal trial practice, and it is not anticipated to result in any disadvantage to the user in court. However, the creator will not be liable for compensation should any damages occur.
About Legal Consultation with the author.
・Questions about the case should be directed to your defense counsel first.
・A second opinion consultation on a case is charged. The fee for legal consultation with the author, Takashi Kawaguchi（川口崇弁護士）, is 11,000 yen per hour. An appointment is required for consultation.
・Interpretation fee is required separately.
・If you would like the author, Takashi Kawaguchi（川口崇弁護士）, to provide a second opinion by visiting the Police station or Detention House to meet with the defendant in detention in person, an initial visit fee of 55,000 yen is required.
Interpretation fee is required separately. A daily business allowance and transportation fee will be charged for travel outside Kanagawa Prefecture.
・Family members or representatives must contact us prior to the counsel's visit and arrange payment via bank transfer before the visit.
・Direct requests for visits from detained defendants will not be accommodated.
All communication must go through family members or other representatives.
1."保釈請求書" The bail request form.
1-1.Printing and Filing the "保釈請求書" with the Court
Download, print the file in PDF format, sign, and seal it, then file it with the court handling your criminal case. The documents can be mailed to the court.
①The bail request form for Family member.
②The bail request form for Defendant.
Printing Methods.
The PDF file can be printed at convenience stores such as Seven-Eleven, Lawson, and FamilyMart.
It is easy to save PDF data from a PC to a USB memory stick and print it at a convenience store.
Even if you don't have a computer and printer, you can print from your smartphone app.
You can print it at Seven-Eleven, Lawson, FamilyMart, and other convenience stores in Japan.
Explanatory videos on YouTube.
Seven-Eleven_iPhone , Seven-Eleven_Android , Lawson, FamilyMart
For Families of Detained Defendants.
If the defendant is detained and you are viewing this page,
A: Print ①The bail request form for Family member and file it with the Court as Family member.
B: Print ②The bail request form for Defendant and "this page", and mail it to the defendant for reference. A Japanese Language web page is also required as a translated text, so print it.
Friends of the defendant are not allowed to request bail.
Friends of the defendant can assist the defendant by sending ②The bail request form for Defendant and "this page", A Japanese Language web page a bail request form by mail.
1-2.The bail request form for Family member.
①The bail request form for Family member.
Explanation of how to describe ①The bail request form for Family member.
（保釈中の制限住居地：Specify the residence of the accused）
□保釈中、被告人住所地に居住させます。
□The defendant will reside at the defendant's address during the bail period.
□保釈中、以下の住居に居住させます。
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿（＿＿方）
□The defendant will reside at the following address during the bail period.
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿（C/O＿＿）
※Please check for either.
Generally, bail is more likely to be granted if the defendant and the requestor live together.
※If the name of the crime is described, the court can more easily identify it.
If you does not know the name of the crime, you may leave it blank.
In the court system, the court clerk can search for a case by the defendant's name.
保釈請求者＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
Person requesting bail＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
続柄：被告人の□夫妻□父母子□兄弟姉妹
電話番号＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
Telephone number in Japan＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
☑請求者（家族）と住所地の公的証明書
☑Official identification of the person requesting (family member) and their place of residence.
（マイナンバーカード表面・運転免許証等）
（My number card or Driver's licence card of Japan）
※A copy of the certificate of residence is filed to prove the relationship between the defendant and the person requesting bail.
Check ☑the box to file a copy of the certificate of residence, if you are a foreigner.
If it takes time to collect the certificate, you can choose ☑to send the bail request form at a time and then send it by post additionally.
※If it is difficult to collect the certificate with both names on it, ②The bail request form for Defendant can be used instead.
1-3.The bail request form for Defendant.
②The bail request form for Defendant.
Explanation of how to describe ②The bail request form for Defendant.
（保釈中の制限住居地：Specify the residence of the accused）
□保釈中は、私の住所地に居住します。
□I will reside at my address during the bail period.
□保釈中は、以下の住居に居住します。
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿（＿＿方）
□I will reside at the following address during the bail period.
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿（C/O＿＿）
※Please check for either.
Generally, bail is more likely to be granted if the defendant and the requestor live together.
※If the name of the crime is described, the court can more easily identify it.
In the court system, the court clerk can search for a case by the defendant's name.
The bail request form contains the minimum requirements required under the Japanese Code of Criminal Procedure and does not contain extraneous information.
If the following details are included in the bail request, indeed, the judge will consider that there is a lower risk of conceal or destroy evidence.
・The defendant paid compensation to the victim for the damage.
・A settlement was agreed between the defendant and the victim.
However, as the bail request form is filed with the court and is also seen by the prosecutor in charge, writing anything unnecessary risks being used against the defendant in the criminal trial.
The bail request form is not complicated and contains only the minimum required content.
The defendant requests the judge to grant bail by pledging to do the following three things.
☑The defendant pledge not to conceal or destroy evidence.
☑The defendant pledges not to contact anyone else involved in the case.
☑The defendant pledges to appear on the date of the criminal trial.
The judge should grant bail in cases of Release on bail（権利保釈・必要的保釈）, even if there is no particular reason in favour of the defendant.
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| If you request bail, the prosecutor will file an opinion against bail with the court. The prosecutor will not agree to bail for the defendant. |
Whether a request for bail can be granted by the defendant or family member, rather than by defence counsel
Bail is at the discretion of the judge.
Bail in cases of Release on bail（権利保釈・必要的保釈）, The law provides that "The request for bail shall be granted".
Article 89 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Request bail and trust the law and the judge!
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| Decision to grant bail prepared by the court. The document will state the amount of the bail bond and restricted residence, among other things. |
The court shall, when granting bail, set the amount of the bail bond.
Article 93 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The amount of the bail bond can go up or down depending on the defendant's high or low risk of fleeing and the state of their assets.
The amount of the bail bond will be stated in the decision to grant bail.
The standard bail bond is at least 1,500,000 yen（150万円以上）.
The Tokyo Bar Association advises that "more than 1,000,000 yen（100万円以上） is estimated price".
The ruling of release on bail shall not be executed before payment of the bail bond.
Article 94 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
If bail is granted and you are unable to provide the bail bond to the court, the only disadvantage is that the defendant will not be released.
If bail is granted but you are unable to pay the bail bond, you do not have to withdraw your request for bail.
However, if bail has been granted but you are unable to pay the bail bond, you should inform the court clerk by telephone.
The court clerk aims to release the defendant on the same day the bail bond is posted.
If you pay the bail bond on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the court cannot confirm the payment and the defendant will not be released.
The court clerk will want to hear when the bail bond is to be paid by the family in order to release the defendant as soon as possible after the decision to grant bail.
The court clerk will not demand payment even if the family is unable to pay the bail bond.
2.Appeal against rejection of bail request.
2-1.Appeal form against rejection of bail request.
Even if you request bail using ①The bail request form for Family member or ②The bail request form for Defendant and the court rejects your request for bail, you can file an Koukoku-appeal or Jun-kokoku appeal with the court.（抗告・準抗告）
※The Supreme Court in Japan precedent: Family member who have requested bail and had it rejected can file an Appeal against denial of bail request.
Download, print the file in PDF format, sign, and seal it, then file it with the court handling your criminal case. The documents can be mailed to the court.
①Appeal form against rejection of bail request for Family member.
②Appeal form against rejection of bail request for Defendant.
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| "Decision to Reject Bail Request" |
The text of a judgment : The request for bail in this case is rejected.
Reasons : The defendant comes within the following (some of 1-7) and it is not considered appropriate to discretion bail.
...It is not a rational reason.
When you file an appeal with the court, the judge will state specific reasons for rejecting bail.
The court may change its decision to grant bail.
The defendant would at least like to know why the court rejected bail request.
The court will reply to the appeal with reasons for rejection in writing.
Appeals are heard by a different judge to the judge who rejected the bail.
3.The author's awareness of the problems with the bail request system.
3-1.If bail is not requested, post-indictment detention does not end.
Japanese courts and prosecutors' offices continue to detain defendants in detention for the duration of the trial without releasing them, not only during the suspect phase of the case investigation (up to 20 days), but also during the defendant phase after the prosecutor has filed charges in court.
As a lawyer, the author feels that post-indictment detention is treated inhumanely.
Japan is a nation governed by the rule of law and Article 31 of the Constitution establishes the presumption of innocence.
Article 89 The request for bail must be granted, except when:
(i)the accused has allegedly committed a crime which is punishable by the death penalty, life imprisonment, life imprisonment without work, or a sentence of imprisonment or imprisonment without work whose minimum term is one year or more;
(ii)the accused was previously found guilty of a crime punishable by the death penalty, life imprisonment, life imprisonment without work, or a sentence of imprisonment or imprisonment without work whose maximum term was in excess of ten years;
(iii)the accused allegedly habitually committed a crime punishable by imprisonment or imprisonment without work whose maximum term was three years or more ;
(iv)there is probable cause to suspect that the accused may conceal or destroy evidence;
(v)there is probable cause to suspect that the accused may harm the body or property of the victim or any other person who is deemed to have knowledge essential to the trial of the case or the relatives of such persons or may threaten them;
(vi)the name or residence of the accused is unknown.
Article 90 The court may, when it finds it appropriate, grant bail ex officio taking into account the extent of the risk that the accused may flee, or conceal or destroy evidence if the accused is bailed, as well as the extent of health or economic disadvantages or disadvantages in social life or in terms of preparation for defense to be incurred by the accused due to continued physical restraint and other circumstances.
Article 89
The request for bail must be granted, except when:(i)－(vi).
Release on bail（権利保釈・必要的保釈）.
The Code of Criminal Procedure requires the court to grant bail in cases other than those under items (i)－(vi).
the problems with the bail request system.
However, the bail system is designed against the defendant.
It imposes a 'request' requirement "The request for bail".
Unless someone on the defendant's side requests bail from the court, the judge will never! never! grant release or bail on his or her own.
※In practice, judges ignore the obligatory bail under Article 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The person requesting bail is defined in Article 88(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Article 88(1)The accused under detention or the defense counsel of the accused, legal representative, curator, spouse, lineal relative or sibling may request bail.
The person requesting bail is not limited to defence counsel.
②The accused can request bail.
①Husband/Wife, Father/Mother, Grandparents, Children, Sibling of the defendant can request bail.
The law allowing ②Accused and ①Family member to request bail has not been mentioned outwardly.
It has been hidden like a trick.
If ②Accused or ①Family member, who is a legal layman, requests bail, the court may not really want the defendant to request bail because it would be too much hassle.
Of course, the Court has never stated its real intention.
However, the information disclosure on the court webpage shows a negative attitude.
■In criminal cases, only some forms are uploaded at the Hiroshima High Court.
Court forms for "bail request forms" do not exist on all court webpages.
■In civil cases, a number of official forms have been uploaded. For comparison.
The Civil Litigation Q&A is helpful and even provides advice on filing civil proceedings.
Q. Do I have to ask a attorney (representative) to file a court case or lawsuit?
A. You can conduct the proceedings yourself. You will decide whether you wish to be represented by a lawyer in court or litigation proceedings.
The court's advice is the same for bail requests in criminal cases.
Q. Do I have to ask a defence counsel to request bail?
A. The defendant and the defendant's family can file the proceedings. It is up to the defendant or the defendant's family to decide whether to request defence counsel in the bail procedure.
The Code of Criminal Procedure allows ①family members the right to request bail.
What does the district court clerk do when a family member asks an enquiry to the district court?
The author got a court form for a bail request by a family member from the Yokohama District Court.
The author called the bail clerks of the Criminal Division of the District Court in eight different locations.
The results of asking the court clerk if there is a court form are as follows.
✖ Sapporo, ☑ Sendai, ☑ Tokyo, ✖ Nagoya, ✖ Osaka, ☑ Hiroshima, ☑ Takamatsu, ✖ Fukuoka
The Hiroshima District Court "bail request form" was a good Excel-based form.
Court forms may be lying dormant in various local courts.
Even the judge conducting the bail review may not be aware of the existence of court forms.
Court forms for 'bail request forms' by family members are not uploaded on the court webpage at all, even though they may be prepared by the court and exist in the district court.
To resolve the issue, the author prepared and released a bail request form for the family.
It is probably the first and only attempt of its kind in Japan on the internet.
The author's search found bail request forms for defence counsel, but no bail request forms for defendants or family members existed on the internet.
Internet websites are full of sales advice: 'Have your bail request done by a private defence counsel💴'.
The family of the defendant is the one who will want the bail request form, so please use it.
(Method for Making a Motion or Statement)
According to the Rules of Criminal Procedure, bail can be requested orally.
It is difficult for family members to orally provide the court clerk with the information necessary to request bail.
Use the written form. in writing.
3-2.Should you rely on a court-appointed defence counsel for bail request?
In criminal cases, the principle is that the defendant will appoint a private defence counsel.（私選弁護人）
(1)The accused or the suspect may appoint defense counsel at any time.
(2)The legal representative, curator, spouse, lineal relative, sibling of the accused or suspect may independently appoint defense counsel.
Court-appointed defence counsel（国選弁護人） is appointed by the court "When the accused is unable to appoint defense counsel due to indigency or other reasons".
When the accused is unable to appoint defense counsel due to indigency or other reasons, the court must appoint defense counsel for the accused upon request; provided, however, that this does not apply when defense counsel has been appointed by a person other than the accused.
Whether a defence counsel is a private or court-appointed lawyer, the defence counsel has the same obligation to endeavour to free the accused from physical detention.
However, the hurdle for court-appointed defence counsel to request bail is higher than for private defence counsel.
Private defence counsels often receive a fee from the defendant's family members, rather than the defendant in detention, to perform their duties.
Private defence counsels have a contractual relationship with the family members already in the community.
This also facilitates the receipt of bail bonds and the preparation of identity documents, which are required for bail requests.
On the other hand, court-appointed defence counsels often only meet the defendant.
Court-appointed defence counsels have no contractual relationship with the defendant's family and in some cases do not even have the phone number of the defendant's family.
Court-appointed defence counsels do not have a smooth process for receiving bail bonds or preparing identity documents.
In some cases, family members are estranged from the defendant and do not want to pay the bail bond.
Defendants are almost never detained with large sums of money.
The defendant himself cannot be paid a bail bond while in detention.
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| Request form for appointment of court-appointed defence counsel and declaration of financial resources. The court requires the defendant to declare under oath in this document whether he or she has assets of more than 500,000 yen.（50万円） |
Bail fees for court-appointed defence counsel are too low.
Bail (release) fees for court-appointed defence counsel are very low.
The Japanese Government (The Japan Legal Support Center Houterasu and the Ministry of Finance) disrespects bail and human rights.
Rules on attorneys' fees of Japan Federation of Bar Associations Until 2004.
Private defence counsels usually require a starting fee and a success fee of between JPY 100,000 and JPY 200,000 for a bail request.
Higher rates are set in cases where bail is difficult to grant.
On the other hand, court-appointed defence counsel is paid an additional 10,000 yen, which is the fee for bail, once the defendant has been released.（算定基準第30条第3項）
✖ Stage at which the court-appointed defence counsel requests bail.
The defence counsel is responsible for the work of preparing the bail requests.
Court-appointed defence counsel cannot receive a starting fee.
✖The stage at which the court-appointed defence counsel requests bail and the court grants bail.
There is no fee for court-appointed defence counsel.
○The stage at which the family has delivered the bail bond and the defendant has been released.
The court-appointed defence counsel finally gets a contingency fee of a 10,000 yen.
The Japan Legal Support Center Houterasu explains officially as follows.
Basic explanation of court-appointed defence fees and costs (FAQs)
To be paid successfully on bail, the defendant must be released from detention after the court-appointed defence counsel files a request for bail （Activity requirement） and gets a decision to release the defendant on bail （Outcome requirements）.
In bail, even if the court-appointed defence counsel himself requests bail and obtains a decision to grant bail, if, as a result, the bail bond is not paid and the defendant is not actually released from custody, the outcome requirement is not satisfied and the success fee for bail cannot be calculated.
Imagine the difficulty of the duties of a court-appointed defence counsel asking family members to raise money, preparing a bail request, filing the master copy with the court, meeting with the judge to negotiate bail conditions and other matters as necessary, and finally being granted bail.
The fact that the starting bail fee for court-appointed defence counsel is set at 'zero yen' shows the Japanese Government's disregard for bail and human rights.
The fact that the bail success fee for court-appointed defence counsel is set at only "10,000 yen" shows the Japanese Government's disregard for bail and human rights.
Why does the Japanese Government not incentivise court-appointed defence counsel to request bail?
Does the Japanese Government and the Ministry of Justice want to continue post-indictment detention?
Japan Bail Support Association criticise on their webpage the too low bail fees for court-appointed defence counsel.
By the way, Japan Bail Support Association is a fee of X0,000 yen to use their services.
For inconsistency, there has been a reversal in the fees charged by the JSA exceeding the fees of the court-appointed defence counsels who actually request bail.
(Important)
Notes that we do not want you to misunderstand after reading this article.
Many court-appointed defence counsels request bail if a family member is prepared to pay the bail bond, even if the very nature of the case makes it difficult for the court to grant bail.
The request for bail by court-appointed defence counsel is underpinned by the pride of attorneys and their human rights awareness.
However, it is difficult for court-appointed defence counsel to deal with the following cases, even if they are asked to do so unreasonably.
・When the defendant requests the court-appointed defence counsel to request bail even though the family is in a financial situation where they are unable to pay the bail bond.
It is difficult to request bail from a court-appointed defence counsel and expect them to work only to get bail granted.
・Where the defendants request that they be released on bail as soon as possible after the indictment.
If the defendant wishes to be given the highest priority, a private defence counsel should be appointed.
The low fees for court-appointed defence counsels may cause them to prioritise other duties.
・In cases where bail has already been denied or in cases where bail is not expected, the defendant asks the court-appointed defence counsel to request bail several times.
In cases where bail has already been refused, and in the same circumstances, the court will refuse bail for the same reasons.
4.The bail request form can be used in the following situations
Bail requests form can be useful, for example, in the following cases
・Bail request first try
The author recommends the use of trying to request bail immediately after prosecution.
This is effective in use where a family member or defendant requests bail immediately after the indictment and tries for bail to be granted first.
Bail requests can be tried multiple times until bail is granted.
There is no disadvantage if a family member or defendant's request for bail is rejected.
※If the criminal trial does not proceed, it does not matter how many times the same document is filed.
・Disagreement between defence counsel and defendant on the direction of the bail request.
If bail cannot be expected to be requested by defence counsel,a family member or defendant may request bail and the court may grant bail.
・Request for bail before the start of the appeal hearing
An appeal is filed after the delivery of the prison sentence and before the appointment of a court-appointed defence counsel for the appeal, the court-appointed defence counsel in the original trial has been removed and no longer has the status of 'defence counsel', AND the court-appointed defence counsel in the appeal trial has not yet been appointed as 'defence counsel'.
This is therefore a gap period during which there is no court-appointed defence counsel with the right to request bail.
Bail requests form can be useful.
※The form is 'District Court（地方裁判所）', but depending on the timing of the bail request, 'High Court（高等裁判所）' is correct.
5.What defendants need to be aware of while granted bail
If bail is granted by the court, you must comply with the 'bail conditions' stated in the decision granting bail.
If you do not comply with the 'bail conditions', the court may make a ruling to sequester the whole or part of the bail bond.
(2)If the court rescinds bail, it may make a ruling to sequester the whole or part of the bail bond.
(3)When an accused on bail has been found guilty, and the sentence has become final and binding, and said accused has subsequently been summoned for the execution of said sentence but does not appear in court without a justifiable reason or flees, the court must, upon the request of a public prosecutor, make a ruling to sequester the whole or part of the bail bond.
・Explanation of the bail system.
This TV programme provides a clear explanation of the Japanese bail system.
テレビ朝日「そうだったのか！池上彰の学べるニュース」（平成22年=2010年11月17日）
Postscript
A criminal trial is a trial for you (the defendant).
A criminal trial is not a trial for defense counsel.
The person who is to be sentenced is you (the defendant).
As an attorney, the author wishes you will receive a Fair Criminal Trial🙏
YokohamaKatei Lawfirm
Attorney Takashi Kawaguchi
横浜家庭法律事務所 弁護士川口崇
〆
About Legal Consultation with the author.
・Questions about the case should be directed to your defense counsel first.
・A second opinion consultation on a case is charged. The fee for legal consultation with the author, Takashi Kawaguchi（川口崇弁護士）, is 11,000 yen per hour. An appointment is required for consultation.
・Interpretation fee is required separately.
・If you would like the author, Takashi Kawaguchi（川口崇弁護士）, to provide a second opinion by visiting the Police station or Detention House to meet with the defendant in detention in person, an initial visit fee of 55,000 yen is required.
Interpretation fee is required separately. A daily business allowance and transportation fee will be charged for travel outside Kanagawa Prefecture.
・Family members or representatives must contact us prior to the counsel's visit and arrange payment via bank transfer before the visit.
・Direct requests for visits from detained defendants will not be accommodated.
All communication must go through family members or other representatives.
