No executions for Japan in 2011

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TOKYO, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Japanese officials confirm 2011 would be the first in 19 years that no executions took place in the country.

There had been at least one execution a year since 1993 when Justice Minister Masaharu Gotoda approved the first execution in more than three years, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

As of Tuesday, the number of death-row convicts awaiting execution increased by 18 to 129 since the end of last year, the largest increase since World War II, the Justice Ministry reported.

The Criminal Procedure Code requires executions be ordered by the justice minister within a six-month period after a death sentence is issued. However, the justice minister has the authority to decide the execution period and the convicts to be executed.

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