Penal Code of Japan

The first penal code of a Western style in Japan was what is now referred to as the which was promulgated in July 1880 and came into effect on January 1, 1882. French legal scholar Gustave Boissonade was employed by the Japanese government to draft this Code, which resulted in heavy influence from the French Penal Code. This Code took away judges' power to arbitrarily assign punishments to crimes. This was replaced with the current Penal Code in 1908 which showed influence from the German model. It saw some amendments during World War II and further, more extensive amendments during the American occupation. == Structure ==

The Penal Code of 1907 is subdivided into 2 parts, 50 chapters and comprises 264 articles. Structure (Part I) Structure (Part II) ==See also==