ID :
61747
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 21:03
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/61747
The shortlink copeid
Lay judge system starts in Japan amid lingering concerns
TOKYO, May 21 Kyodo -
Japan joined the ranks of many other countries Thursday by introducing an
aspect of the judicial system that enables ordinary citizens to try criminal
cases, but its debut was overshadowed by criticism over the controversial
lifetime secrecy obligation imposed on ''lay judges'' and questions about its
constitutionality.
The first trial overseen by a panel of professional and lay judges is expected
to be held in late July, at the earliest, with attention focused on whether the
system can bring change to a trial process which has been criticized for being
too abstruse and out of touch with popular sentiment.
Prosecutors on Thursday indicted four suspects arrested in separate criminal
cases, such as robbery resulting in bodily injury and attempted arson, to be
put under lay judge trials. Criminal indictments filed from Thursday onward
will be tried under the new system as the law introducing it took effect the
same day.
Upon the introduction of the public participation system, the first in 66 years
since a jury system was suspended before the end of World War II, Justice
Minister Eisuke Mori said it will bring a ''major change to trials that had
been in the hands of the authorities.''
''I believe that more than a few people are worried about serving as lay
judges. But what is needed (in trials) is the common sense that members of the
public develop in everyday life,'' he told a press conference.
While he understands the lingering reluctance, particularly about handing down
a death penalty, Mori said he expects a stir of public discussion over capital
punishment in the wake of the system.
Seeking ''faster, friendlier and more reliable'' administration of justice, the
lay judge system, which Prime Minister Taro Aso calls the ''pillar of the
judicial system reform,'' focuses on courtroom exchanges, rather than the
traditional lengthy out-of-court perusal of investigative records.
Under the system, in principle, six citizens randomly selected from eligible
voters will examine murder and other serious criminal cases together with three
professional judges at district courts.
Lay judges will also participate in determining the sentence. In this sense,
the system differs from the jury systems in countries such as the United States
and Britain, where jurors determine the guilt or innocence of the defendant and
the judges determine the sentence.
But a number of problems have been pointed out, including the secrecy
obligation over the content of closed-door deliberations.
Some experts have criticized that the obligation is ''too strict,'' compared
with the rules for U.S. jurors, who are allowed to talk freely about such
discussions after a trial ends.
The law on lay judges sets a maximum penalty of six months in prison or a fine
of 500,000 yen if they leak information about what people said during the
deliberations.
Some ruling and opposition lawmakers formed a group on April 1 to seek a review
of the system, even though the law was enacted in 2004 with unanimous support
in the House of Representatives.
After failing to submit a bill to stop the system from starting as planned, it
now aims to present a bill to alleviate or eliminate the penalties before the
first lay judge trial is held, Social Democratic Party lawmaker Nobuto Hosaka,
the group's secretary general, said.
The group has argued such heavy punishments could prevent lay judges from
blowing the whistle on mishandling of trials by professional judges. They also
find it problematic that the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of thought and
principle may not be an acceptable reason for lay judge candidates to refuse
the duty, as there is no such stipulation in the law.
Meanwhile, an anti-lay judge citizens group consisting of lawyers, college
professors and others called at a press conference in Tokyo for the public to
jointly refuse to cooperate with the system to abolish it.
A former junior high school teacher, 67, who has been put on the list of lay
judge candidates, also attended the press conference and stressed that he
''does not want to judge anyone.''
''The system is a violation of the Constitution and ignores human rights,'' he
said.
But some people have expressed willingness to take part in the system and hope
for a positive change, with a 21-year-old university student saying at the
Osaka District Court, ''I think trials will become more open because of public
participation.''
The lay judge law stipulates that the government will review the system, if
necessary, three years after its introduction.
Before the start of the trial, prosecutors, defense lawyers and professional
judges will engage in a ''pretrial arrangement procedure'' which is held to
narrow down the arguments in order to keep the trial period short for the
convenience of lay judges.
The procedure for the earliest cases with few points of controversy is expected
to be completed as early as mid-June. Courts will then call up about 50 to 100
lay judge candidates for each case.
Japan's lay judge system was proposed in June 2001 by a government judicial
reform panel, which concluded that public understanding and support for the
judicial system will be deepened by having the ''sound social common sense of
the public'' reflected more directly in judgments.
Behind the move were calls from the business world in the 1990s to enhance the
role of the judiciary in settling disputes in an era of deregulation as well as
question marks over the criminal trial process following a series of retrials
in the 1980s that overturned final capital cases. The overturned cases mainly
involved forced confessions obtained during closed-door questioning by
investigators.
In Japan, a jury system operated between 1928 and 1943, which was then
suspended amid the rise of militarism. Okinawa had a jury system under U.S.
occupation after World War II, which lasted until 1972.
Until now, Japan has been the only Group of Eight nation without a system that
enables the public to participate in criminal trial procedures. Some 80
countries and regions have such a system, according to the Japan Federation of
Bar Associations.
==Kyodo
Japan joined the ranks of many other countries Thursday by introducing an
aspect of the judicial system that enables ordinary citizens to try criminal
cases, but its debut was overshadowed by criticism over the controversial
lifetime secrecy obligation imposed on ''lay judges'' and questions about its
constitutionality.
The first trial overseen by a panel of professional and lay judges is expected
to be held in late July, at the earliest, with attention focused on whether the
system can bring change to a trial process which has been criticized for being
too abstruse and out of touch with popular sentiment.
Prosecutors on Thursday indicted four suspects arrested in separate criminal
cases, such as robbery resulting in bodily injury and attempted arson, to be
put under lay judge trials. Criminal indictments filed from Thursday onward
will be tried under the new system as the law introducing it took effect the
same day.
Upon the introduction of the public participation system, the first in 66 years
since a jury system was suspended before the end of World War II, Justice
Minister Eisuke Mori said it will bring a ''major change to trials that had
been in the hands of the authorities.''
''I believe that more than a few people are worried about serving as lay
judges. But what is needed (in trials) is the common sense that members of the
public develop in everyday life,'' he told a press conference.
While he understands the lingering reluctance, particularly about handing down
a death penalty, Mori said he expects a stir of public discussion over capital
punishment in the wake of the system.
Seeking ''faster, friendlier and more reliable'' administration of justice, the
lay judge system, which Prime Minister Taro Aso calls the ''pillar of the
judicial system reform,'' focuses on courtroom exchanges, rather than the
traditional lengthy out-of-court perusal of investigative records.
Under the system, in principle, six citizens randomly selected from eligible
voters will examine murder and other serious criminal cases together with three
professional judges at district courts.
Lay judges will also participate in determining the sentence. In this sense,
the system differs from the jury systems in countries such as the United States
and Britain, where jurors determine the guilt or innocence of the defendant and
the judges determine the sentence.
But a number of problems have been pointed out, including the secrecy
obligation over the content of closed-door deliberations.
Some experts have criticized that the obligation is ''too strict,'' compared
with the rules for U.S. jurors, who are allowed to talk freely about such
discussions after a trial ends.
The law on lay judges sets a maximum penalty of six months in prison or a fine
of 500,000 yen if they leak information about what people said during the
deliberations.
Some ruling and opposition lawmakers formed a group on April 1 to seek a review
of the system, even though the law was enacted in 2004 with unanimous support
in the House of Representatives.
After failing to submit a bill to stop the system from starting as planned, it
now aims to present a bill to alleviate or eliminate the penalties before the
first lay judge trial is held, Social Democratic Party lawmaker Nobuto Hosaka,
the group's secretary general, said.
The group has argued such heavy punishments could prevent lay judges from
blowing the whistle on mishandling of trials by professional judges. They also
find it problematic that the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of thought and
principle may not be an acceptable reason for lay judge candidates to refuse
the duty, as there is no such stipulation in the law.
Meanwhile, an anti-lay judge citizens group consisting of lawyers, college
professors and others called at a press conference in Tokyo for the public to
jointly refuse to cooperate with the system to abolish it.
A former junior high school teacher, 67, who has been put on the list of lay
judge candidates, also attended the press conference and stressed that he
''does not want to judge anyone.''
''The system is a violation of the Constitution and ignores human rights,'' he
said.
But some people have expressed willingness to take part in the system and hope
for a positive change, with a 21-year-old university student saying at the
Osaka District Court, ''I think trials will become more open because of public
participation.''
The lay judge law stipulates that the government will review the system, if
necessary, three years after its introduction.
Before the start of the trial, prosecutors, defense lawyers and professional
judges will engage in a ''pretrial arrangement procedure'' which is held to
narrow down the arguments in order to keep the trial period short for the
convenience of lay judges.
The procedure for the earliest cases with few points of controversy is expected
to be completed as early as mid-June. Courts will then call up about 50 to 100
lay judge candidates for each case.
Japan's lay judge system was proposed in June 2001 by a government judicial
reform panel, which concluded that public understanding and support for the
judicial system will be deepened by having the ''sound social common sense of
the public'' reflected more directly in judgments.
Behind the move were calls from the business world in the 1990s to enhance the
role of the judiciary in settling disputes in an era of deregulation as well as
question marks over the criminal trial process following a series of retrials
in the 1980s that overturned final capital cases. The overturned cases mainly
involved forced confessions obtained during closed-door questioning by
investigators.
In Japan, a jury system operated between 1928 and 1943, which was then
suspended amid the rise of militarism. Okinawa had a jury system under U.S.
occupation after World War II, which lasted until 1972.
Until now, Japan has been the only Group of Eight nation without a system that
enables the public to participate in criminal trial procedures. Some 80
countries and regions have such a system, according to the Japan Federation of
Bar Associations.
==Kyodo
