A Comparative Study Of The Criminal Prosecution System Between China And Japan

China and Japan are neighbors separated only by a strip of water. Before the Meiji restoration, Japan had been following the ex ample of Chinese legal system. However, after Meiji restoration, Japa n makes its own crim inal procedural law in 1890, the so-called old criminal procedure law. Actually, this law is based on Germ any’s criminal procedure law in 1877, therefore, Japan b ecomes one of the civil law countries and implements the prosecution of legal doctrine. However, after the Second World War, as the vanquished country, Japan embarks on reforms under the control United S tates, and promulgates the new crim inal procedural law in 1948 which em phasizes on safeguarding the human rights of the part ies on th e basis of adv ersary system. Consequently, Japan introduces the convenient principle of prosecution into the criminal prosecution system. Hereto, Japan’s criminal prosecution system features the mixture of the common law system and the civil law system as well as Japanese characteristics. As known to all, with the past by developm ent, the two law systems tend to com bine together while maintaining their specialty. Japan is the typ ical country who skillfully blends the two law system together, and it hold great significance for China. This article aims to thank over and draw lessons from Japan’s criminal prosecution system by comparing the differences underlying the conve nient principle of prosecution in both China and Japan.