TOKYO: The Japanese government is considering giving up the enactment of a controversial prosecutor law revision bill during the ongoing parliamentary session, which will end on June 17, a senior government official said Monday.

The government believes it would not be the best idea to railroad the bill amid growing public criticism that the proposed law revision might jeopardize the independence of public prosecutors, informed sources said.

The government aims to handle the amendment designed to raise the retirement age for prosecutors at an extraordinary session of the Diet, the country's parliament, that is expected to be convened in autumn, the sources said.

The revision is part of a package of legislation aimed at raising the retirement age for national public servants.

While setting the retirement age for prosecutors in executive posts, the proposed revision to the prosecutors offices law includes a provision that would allow the cabinet to decide tenure extensions for such senior prosecutors, including the prosecutor-general, at its discretion.

Against this background, opposition parties claim that such an amendment would lead to arbitrary personnel decisions by the government, criticizing the government for attempting to retrospectively justify an unprecedented cabinet decision in late January to extend the retirement of Hiromu Kurokawa, head of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office, believed to be close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration.

JIJI Press