Shigemitsu Dandō

Shigemitsu Dandō (團藤 重光, Dandō Shigemitsu, 8 November 1913[1] – 25 June 2012) was a professor of the department of Social and Political sciences at the University of Tokyo, an academic researcher of criminology, and a Justice of the Supreme Court of Japan.

In 1975 he joined the Shiratori ruling, which applied the principle of "benefit of the doubt" to appeals of criminal convictions, beginning an important trend in criminal cases leading to findings of innocence on appeal.

In a 1983 decision concerning Upper House seat distribution in the Diet, he argued for the minority that "disparity in ballot weight" between constituencies was unconstitutional.

In February 1989, upon the death of Emperor Shōwa, he joined the Imperial Household Agency, providing counsel on legal and other matters.

Widely known for his lifelong opposition to capital punishment, he authored the book Shikei Haishiron ("Discussion on Abolition of the Death Penalty"), calling the death penalty the "irredeemable criminal punishment."