Kyushu University Academic Staff Educational and Research Activities Database
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Masamitsu TOMIKAWA Last modified date:2023.11.22



Graduate School
Undergraduate School


Homepage
https://kyushu-u.elsevierpure.com/en/persons/masamitsu-tomikawa
 Reseacher Profiling Tool Kyushu University Pure
Academic Degree
Ph. D. in Law, Master of Laws
Country of degree conferring institution (Overseas)
No
Field of Specialization
Criminal Law
Total Priod of education and research career in the foreign country
02years04months
Outline Activities
1. My main research topic is fraud. In particular, I have been studying the effect of the victim's joint responsibility on the requirement of deception.
In the case of fraud, if the victim suffers from fraud because of his carelessness, the actor's culpability may be reduced. I have tried to clarify the principle reason why the victim's carelessness reduces the actor's culpability in the case of fraud, although the culpability of the actor is an issue in the theory of crime. In this research, I adopted the method of referring to German criminal law, which is said to have influenced Japanese criminal law, and investigating the history of theories and precedents on the theory of deception. Through these investigations, it was clarified that the principle reason why the victim's co-responsibility should be taken into account is in the structure of the crime of fraud. In addition, I analyzed the Swiss Criminal Code, which explicitly requires the denial of the punishability of fraud by the joint responsibility of the victim, and clarified the degree of confirmation measures required of the victim.
2. In relation to my main research theme, I have also conducted research on the timing of the commission of a crime of fraud. In recent years, as theatrical fraud has become a social problem, the limits of the punishment for fraud have become an issue. Through comparative legal research with Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, I have tried to clarify the structure of judgments regarding the initiation of the commission of the crime of fraud. In addition, we are also conducting research on related crimes other than fraud, which are also problematic in special fraud cases.
3. Further secondary themes include EU criminal law, environmental criminal law, and AI and criminal law. All of them are comparative legal research with German-speaking countries (Germany, Switzerland, and Austria).
4. From September 2013 to August 2015, I had the opportunity to conduct research at the University of Göttingen, Germany, as a DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) scholar.
Research
Research Interests
  • corruption
    keyword : bribery
    2022.04~2023.06.
  • Fraud
    keyword : Fraudulent misrepresentation
    2009.04~2018.03.
  • Commencement of crime
    keyword : Commencement of crime
    2017.10~2019.04.
  • AI and Criminal Law
    keyword : AI and Criminal Law
    2017.04~2018.03.
  • Environmental Criminal Law
    keyword : Environmental Criminal Law
    2015.04~2019.03.
  • Criminal Law in EU
    keyword : Criminal Law in EU
    2015.04~2016.03.
Membership in Academic Society
  • Kyushu law association
  • Criminal Law Society of Japan
Educational
Educational Activities
As for educational activities, I have been in charge of lectures and seminars on criminal law at the undergraduate level.
In the lecture courses, I have considered dialogue with students to be important, and have tried to conduct interactive classes rather than one-way transmission of knowledge to students. In addition, in criminal law, which tends to be knowledge-intensive, I have encouraged students' spontaneous learning by showing them the way to think. I have also focused on the study of precedents and tried to make students aware of how difficult and important it is to bridge the gap between theory and practice.
In the exercises, for the purpose of clarifying the theory of precedents, an exhaustive survey of precedents is conducted on a specific theme each semester. This is a method that is also used in actual research, and is intended to give students an opportunity to experience the reality of academia, while at the same time allowing the faculty to grow together with the students.