From: Daniel H. Foote
wakaru@u.washington.edu
For anyone who may happen to be in the Seattle area on April 8, I'm
forwarding a message about a lecture that evening, by former Japanese
Supreme Court Justice Shigemitsu Dando:
On Monday, April 8, former Japanese Supreme Court Justice Shigemitsu Dando
will be presenting the Condon-Falknor Lecture at the University of
Washington School of Law, on the topic: "Toward the Abolition of the Death
Penalty." The
lecture will be held at 7:30 p.m., in Rooms 109/129 of the Law School
(Condon Hall, 1100 N.E. Campus Parkway, Seattle), with a reception to follow.
As you may know, Justice Dando is one of the intellectual giants of 20th
century Japanese jurisprudence. He has written some 30 books (many of which
are multi-volume works, and most of which have gone through two or more
editions), including the leading treatises on criminal procedure and
criminal law. He has also written countless major
articles, including articles in English, French, and German. He was an
important member of the group that thoroughly revised the Criminal Procedure
Code during the Occupation, and has been heavily involved in other law
reform efforts since. On two
occasions in the 1960s, he served as Visiting Professor of Law at the
University of Michigan.
After nearly 40 years on the University of Tokyo law faculty, he was
appointed to the Supreme Court in 1974, where he served until reaching
retirement age (of 70) in 1983. (While on the Supreme Court, he earned the
nickname "the Great Dissenter.") Following his retirement from the Court,
he was appointed as Special Advisor to the Crown Prince, and then
Special Advisor to the Imperial Household in 1989 when Emperor Akihito
succeeded to the throne.
During his career, he has been showered with honors, including Japan's
highest cultural honor (the Order of Cultural Merit), appointment to the
Japan Academy, election as Honorary Foreign Member of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences, an honorary doctorate from the University of Michigan,
etc., etc.
Following his retirement from the Supreme Court, he has maintained a very
active scholarly schedule. In addition to regularly updating his major
earlier works, he has written several new books.
Most significantly in connection with the upcoming lecture, one of his
major new areas of activity and scholarship is capital punishment. In a
keynote address at a conference sponsored by Amnesty International and other
abolitionist groups in December 1990, Dando gave an impassioned plea for
abolition, describing in some detail a Supreme Court case that still haunted
his conscience. Shortly thereafter, he published the first edition of his
book Shikei Haishiron (On the Abolition of the Death Penalty). That book is
now in its fourth edition and has, I understand, sold over 50,000 copies
(making it a runaway best-seller among law books). In the 1990s, Dando has
become the most prominent, and one of the most active, advocates for
abolition of capital punishment in Japan.
His lecture here will build on the abolition theme, examining capital
punishment in Japanese history, in Japan currently, and in international and
comparative perspective.
----------------
Daniel H. Foote
University of Washington School of Law
Seattle, WA
Tel. (206) 685-1897
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