Electronic warrant system to be rolled out in Tokyo and nearby areas by March

An electronic warrant system, in which arrest and search warrants are requested and issued online, will be introduced at courts in Tokyo and neighboring prefectures by the end of March ahead of the system’s nationwide introduction, Supreme Court sources said Tuesday.

The system will be implemented in stages to avoid administrative confusion. It will start with cases involving stimulant possession and use — which usually involve fewer types of evidence — in Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures, where such cases occur more frequently, the sources said.

The move comes as the revised Code of Criminal Procedure is set to take effect by the end of March to digitize criminal procedures.

In early May, the electronic warrant system is expected to become available in seven other prefectures that have high courts, including Aichi, Osaka and Fukuoka, and for all cases in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Currently, police officers need to visit courts in person to obtain printed arrest and search warrants. The new system will allow them to request and obtain such warrants online and present them on tablets and other devices.

According to judicial statistics, a total of 93,360 warrant requests were made at district and summary courts across the country last year. Of them, 98.6% were approved.