The Accused Can Wear Neckties

All you people out there advocating for the rights of the accused will be pleased to find out that Japanese courts will start allowing defendants to wear neckties when they appear in court before lay judges:

The Justice Ministry will allow defendants held in custody to wear a tie and shoes when appearing in court under the lay judge system to be introduced in May 2009, according to sources.

Currently, people not on bail appearing in court are barred from wearing a tie and have to wear slip-on sandals, in an effort to discourage them from fleeing detention houses or attempting to commit suicide.

However, some people argue that having defendants dress this way could make them look like criminals to lay judges and hurt their chances of a fair trial.

The sources said the ministry also has decided to permit defendants to sit next to their attorney during trials.