Japanese High Court Judge removed for controversial social media posts
Kiichi Okaguchi - a 58-year-old high court judge in Japan, was recently ruled to be removed from his position as judge of the Sendai High Court. The decision was reached with a majority of over two-thirds after the Judge Impeachment Court found Okaguchi’s series of past comments on social media about the bereaved family of a high school girl murdered in 2015 to be insulting and damaging to the honor of the victim’s family.
This marks the 8th time that a judge has been expelled in Japan and the first case where the reason is due to personal remarks. All previous instances involved criminal penalties or serious office violations.
Upon delivering the judgment, the court also highlighted how social media posts can be interpreted in different ways and unintentionally cause harm to others. Thus, he should have considered that risk and be more aware of the possible impacts of his comments.
Okaguchi has no option to appeal and will lose his qualifications as a lawyer.
Source: Nikkei
