The media recently split over whether to identify a 19-year-old male who allegedly murdered a female fellow student in Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and then killed himself.

The corpse of the student wanted by police on suspicion of killing the 20-year-old female student on Aug. 28 was found on Sept. 7 in nearby mountains.

After the youth was found dead, The Yomiuri Shimbun, a major daily newspaper, identified him by name and photo. Two major broadcasters -- Nippon Television Network Corp. and TV Asahi Corp. -- also released his name and photo. Public libraries responded by trying to regulate access to the Yomiuri and other publications that disclosed the name of the youth.

Whether to identify crime suspects under Japan's age of majority of 20 years is a contentious issue as the Juvenile Law prohibits publishing information leading to the identification of minors indicted or referred to family courts for alleged wrongdoing.

A spokesman for the Yomiuri said that it is the newspaper’s general policy to identify suspects in criminal cases in its news reporting, but in case of juvenile delinquency, the real names of suspects are withheld voluntarily -- out of respect for Article 61 of the Juvenile Law that aims for the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. However, “in the Yamaguchi slaying case, the suspect had died and there was no question of rehabilitation. Eventually, we decided to give priority to the mission of news reporting, that is the delivery of accurate information to the people,” the spokesman said.

The Yomiuri also noted that minors aged 18 and 19 are punishable by the death penalty, adding that it took the seriousness of the case and the suspect's age into account. “With the death of the youth, protection under the Juvenile Law does not apply to the case, and the people’s right to know should be fully respected. Restraints on the freedom of expression and the freedom of the press should be held to a minimum,” the spokesman said.

On the other hand, all the other national newspapers declined to identify the youth even after his death.

The Asahi Shimbun said the case did not satisfy its in-house code adopted in 2004 on identifying suspects who are minors. The code stipulates that real names of suspects in juvenile delinquencies can be identified only when 1) a suspect is convicted and condemned to death with no chance for rehabilitation, or 2) a suspect is at large and poses a threat to the general public. “In the Yamaguchi case, the suspect was on a wanted list but never convicted. The case did not meet both criteria of the in-house code,” an Asahi official said.

The Mainichi Shimbun said juvenile delinquencies should not be treated on the same footing with criminal cases involving adults, whose identities should generally be published in media reports. According to the Mainichi’s editorial guidelines, anonymity is respected in case of juvenile offenders, but it does release real names when 1) suspects are expected to commit additional offenses and 2) the public interest in releasing a name demands particular priority. “In this case, we did not see any strong social benefit that would necessitate the publication of his identity,” a Mainichi official said.

Kyodo News said the youth lost his protection under the Juvenile Law through his death by suicide. But Kyodo still did not identify him because 1) the case did not fall into the category in which the public interest superceded his protection under the Juvenile Law and because 2) the youth had no chance to defend himself. However, a Kyodo official said they do not always respect anonymity when a minor offender commits suicide, adding that such decisions are made on a case-by-case basis linked to the seriousness of the offense.

Most local newspapers did not publish the youth’s name or photo. The Chugoku Shimbun said some staff wanted to apply the general policy of identifying suspects in criminal cases, as the protection under the law no longer applied to the youth upon his death. But the newspaper ended up respecting his anonymity after in-house deliberations.

The Yamaguchi Shimbun, published in Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, was set to publish the identity of the youth as an exception, only when it was feared that the youth might commit additional offenses while at large. But, it ended up not publishing his identity after developments in the case eliminated any apparent need to go further.

Among broadcasters, Nippon Television Network, TV Asahi and their affiliated local broadcasters released the youth’s name and photo. TV Asahi said rehabilitation became a moot issue upon his death and the seriousness of the offense meant that his name should be released. Nippon Television Network gave the same reasons for releasing his identity.

However, broadcasters affiliated with other key TV networks did not follow suit.

Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) said it respects the Juvenile Law's aim of protecting juvenile offenders and it maintained its anonymity policy even for minors convicted and sentenced to death. “In this particular case, detailed circumstances leading to the alleged murder and his suicide are not apparent. Therefore, we remained more cautious than we would be about the release of the identity of a minor convicted and sentenced to death,” an official said.

The Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) stuck to its policy against releasing minors' names, making a comprehensive assessment that included the presumption that the youth had been unlikely to commit any other offenses.

A scholar of criminal law said the Juvenile Law implies that protecting juvenile offenders’ identities has a social benefit. “It is outrageous to argue that suspects in juvenile offenses need not be protected once they are dead,” he said.

An expert in media-related law argued that Article 61 of the Juvenile Law presumes that offenders survive and questioned media non-disclosure of juvenile offenders’ identities due to the law. “This is a matter of the media’s self-regulation and the ethics of journalism, which differ from legal regulations. The media must be accountable to readers and viewers for any disclosure or non-disclosure of the identities of suspects in juvenile cases,” he said.

(Article 61 of the Juvenile Law)

Newspapers and other publications shall not publish articles or photographs that contain information regarding the name, age, occupation, residence, physical appearance or other information that could lead to the identification of minors indicted or referred to family courts for alleged wrongdoing.

(NSK guidelines on Article 61 of the Juvenile Law, set on Dec. 16, 1958)

Article 61 of the Juvenile Law is intended to protect immature minors and allow for their future rehabilitation. Therefore, newspapers should put themselves in the position of “parents” of these minors and honor the spirit of the law. The law does not stipulate any punitive measures against violators of the law and implies newspapers’ voluntary restraint. If such is the case, newspapers must take to heart their social responsibility. Namely, newspapers should not publish the names, photos or any other information about juvenile delinquents under the age of 20.

However, when protecting the public interest takes precedence over the protection of minors, in extraordinary circumstances, newspapers can request an exceptional permit to publish names and photos… and the newspaper industry wants to promote this approach when:

1. a minor is at large and is highly likely to commit additional serious offenses such as murder or arson, and,

2. when newspapers cooperate with police trying to apprehend a wanted minor.