Japan: 14 sentenced to gallows in 2010

Courts sentenced 14 people to hang in 2010, down 20 from the previous year, reflecting a decrease in heinous crimes, particularly murder, a Kyodo News poll showed.
On the rise since 2000, the number of death sentences handed down by district and high courts as well as the Supreme Court peaked at 46 in 2007. 2010 was the first time since 1999, when 16 people were given the death sentence, that fewer than 20 were sentenced to the gallows.
According to the National Police Agency, atrocious crimes such as murder, robbery and rape have been on the decline since hitting 11,360 in 2005. There were 6,989 such crimes reported as of the end of November.