Osaka District Court

JAPAN: COURT REJECTS INMATES' CALLS TO HALT HANGING ON INHUMANE GROUNDS

January 18, 2026:

A Japanese court rejected on January 16, 2026 three death-row inmates' demands against the state to halt their executions by hanging as an inhumane practice in violation of an international convention prohibiting cruel punishment.
The Osaka District Court also denied the three's claims for damages totaling 33 million yen ($208,000) for mental anguish they claimed to suffer due to being exposed to fear for extended periods about when their executions will be carried out.
All three, whose names, ages and gender are withheld, have been detained for more than 10 years.
Presiding Judge Noriko Yokota said the plaintiffs cannot request a court ruling on the legality of an execution in an administrative lawsuit because doing so would contradict criminal judgments that finalized their death sentences.
As for rejecting their demands for damages, Yokota said the judicial precedent has been established that a death sentence does not violate the Constitution's Article 36, which forbids "cruel punishments" by public officers.
Yokota added that there have been no illegalities with the public officers involved in works to execute death sentences, such as not exercising due care.
The plaintiffs argued that the method of hanging, stipulated as the sole means to execute death-row inmates under Japan's Penal Code, is inhumane as it causes more pain than necessary and violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that bans "cruel, inhuman or degrading" punishment.
In the lawsuit filed in November 2022, they also argued the government's nondisclosure of information regarding the manner and timing of executions hinders public debate on the merits of capital punishment.
However, the state called on the court to dismiss their claims, saying that the illegality of the execution should be disputed through means prescribed by the Code of Criminal Procedure, rather than through administrative litigation.
Regarding the death penalty system in Japan, the Supreme Court's Grand Bench ruled in 1948 that it cannot be considered a cruel punishment prohibited by the Constitution's Article 36, thereby deeming it constitutional.
As for hanging, the top court ruled it constitutional in 1955, finding no particular reason to recognize it as cruel for humanitarian reasons compared with beheading or firing squad executions carried out in other countries.