【News Citation】
Cases in which perpetrators do not pay compensation to crime victims or their bereaved families and victims have to file another lawsuit have become a problem.
This is because an order for compensation loses its validity after a certain period of time has passed, and many people abandon the idea of filing another lawsuit due to the burden of legal fees.
The current situation, which seems to allow perpetrators to get away with their crimes, has led to calls for a national solution to the problem.
In late July, the Kobe District Court heard the first oral argument in a lawsuit filed by the victim’s bereaved family against a male assailant who has not paid compensation for a fatal injury case. The assailant did not appear in court and made no arguments. The hearing was concluded on the same day.
In late July, the Kobe District Court heard the first oral argument in a lawsuit filed by the victim’s bereaved family against a male assailant who has not paid compensation for a fatal injury case. The assailant did not appear in court and made no arguments. The hearing was concluded on the same day.
【Citation】
【Personal opinion】
The problem is that the perpetrator has become the “one who gets away with it” wins.
In the first place, the statute of limitations is not a system that absolves debtors of blame.
It is a system that does not protect creditors who are able to exercise their rights but fail to do so for a long period of time.
In the case of these crime victims, the creditors were not negligent in exercising their right to claim compensation.
Rather, they had filed a lawsuit and properly claimed the money.
Nevertheless, it is the debtor who failed to comply with the judgment and neglected to pay compensation that should be the problem.
As a result, it is not in line with the purpose of the system that such a debtor is protected by the statute of limitations system.
In such cases, the statute of limitations system should be exempted from application, or a system that does not leave debt collection to the creditor is necessary.
It is not right that creditors give up debt collection due to the burden of debt collection, and as a result, the debtor who has fled from the debtor is not entitled to special benefits.
In Japan, Akashi City in Hyogo Prefecture has already adopted a system whereby Akashi City recoups child support payments from parents who have not paid their child support and then claims the money from the parents after the fact, although this is a separate case.
We would like to consider whether this could be applied to tort claims as well.
