The father of a victim in a serial killing case in the 1990s has called for a full investigation into how a court in western Japan discarded records of the case.

In 1997, a 14-year-old boy attacked five children in Kobe City, killing two of them. The case shocked the public and prompted a revision to the juvenile law. It recently surfaced that a family court in the city had discarded all records on the case.

Internal rules of the Supreme Court stipulate that records of investigations and trials in juvenile cases must be kept until the minors involved turn 26. But the rules also say records must be kept permanently if they have historical significance.

The country's Supreme Court is investigating the disposal of the records of about 100 juvenile offenses and civil trials, including the Kobe case. The court invited Hase Mamoru, the father of his late son, Jun, to a meeting of an expert panel on Tuesday.

After speaking in front of the panel, Hase told reporters that he had a glimmer of hope that if the law is revised and records can be viewed, he will be able to get closer to the truth behind the incident. He said even that chance was taken away. At the time of the incident, the bereaved families were unable to attend court hearings for juvenile cases. He noted that he is deeply indignant about the sloppy system to manage records.

He said he asked the court to thoroughly investigate how the records were discarded, swiftly report the result to the bereaved families and make it public. He also said he called for quickly considering the digitalization of such records.

Hase said a court official apologized for the record disposal. He said he was not briefed about a survey of court officials. He said he was informed that the court will report on it in April.

Hase called for creating a system to properly preserve records by taking into account the feelings of bereaved families of victims. He also said he wants the court to consider ways to access the records and expand the range of documents that can be viewed.