Kotaro Ohno, having retired as Prosecutor-General in September 2016, joined Mori Hamada & Matsumoto on November 16, 2016 in the role of special counsel.

In the past, Mr. Ohno engaged in investigations and trial practice at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office and supervised the handling of various criminal cases during his time as Prosecutor-General.  He also served as Deputy Director-General of the Office for Promotion of Justice System Reform Within the Cabinet, Director-General of the Criminal Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Justice, and Vice-Minister of Justice, and in these positions he performed central roles in justice system reform and, in recent years, enactment of diverse criminal legislation.

By welcoming Mr. Ohno as a special counsel, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto will further endeavor to provide our clients with even higher levels of quality in legal services related to corporate white-collar crime and crisis management.
 

Message from Mr. Ohno

I am honored to be joining Mori Hamada & Matsumoto as a special counsel after retiring from my position as Prosecutor-General on September 5, 2016.  In the 40-odd years since being appointed as a public prosecutor in 1976, I have worked for periods of about 20 years each at public prosecutors offices and the Ministry ofJustice.  During my career, I was involved in corporate crime investigations for four years at the Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, after which I engaged exclusively in trials for cases involving tax evasion for one year at the Special Trial Department.  Subsequently, from 2001, I oversaw the reform of the justice system as Deputy Director-General of the Office for Promotion of Justice System Reform Within the Cabinet.  Working together with attorneys from bar associations, we achieved the introduction of the saiban-in (lay judges) system and court-appointed defense counsel system for suspects, the reform of a system to nurture the legal profession, and the establishment of the Japan Legal Support Center (Houterasu).  With the amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure in May 2016, I retired upon witnessing the outcome of a series of criminal justice reforms, which included the introduction of audiovisual recording of examinations and prosecutorial agreement system like plea-bargaining.  As a member of the firm, I am looking forward to providing my services to our clients by using the knowledge and experience I have gathered in my career.

Kotaro Ohno, November 2016