Ministry of Justice (pre-modern Japan)
The Ministry of Justice was a division of the eighth century Japanese government of the Imperial Court in Kyoto, instituted in the Asuka period and formalized during the Heian period. The Ministry was replaced in the Meiji period.Overview
The nature of the ministry was modified in response to changing times. The ambit of the Gyōbu-shō activities encompassed, for example:
- administration and conduct of trials
- oversight of the determination of the severity of punishments
- regulation of the imposition of fines, imprisonments, and penal servitude
History
The duties, responsibilities and focus of the ministry evolved over time. The ritsuryō system of laws were interpreted and applied by bureaucracies which distinguished punishment and censorship. These were merged in 1871 when the Ministry of Justice was established under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan.Hierarchy
The Ministry of Justice brought together a judiciary and penal system management.
The top ritsuryō officials within this ministry structure were:
- chief administrator of the Ministry of Justice
- First assistant to the chief of the Ministry of Justice
- Second assistant to the chief of the Ministry of Justice
- Senior Ministry of Justice undersecretary
- Alternate of the Ministry of Justice undersecretary, two positions
- Chief judge. There are three classes of officials under the control of the chief judge
- First assistants to the Chief Judge
- Second assistants to the Chief Judge
- Alternate assistants to the Chief Judge
- Chief prison warden
- First assistant prison warden
- Alternate assistant prison warden
