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4 - Lay Participation in the Criminal Trial in Japan

A Decade of Activity and Its Sociopolitical Consequences

from Part I - Advances in Lay Participation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2021

By
Dimitri Vanoverbeke  and
Hiroshi Fukurai
Edited by
Sanja Kutnjak Ivković ,
Shari Seidman Diamond ,
Valerie P. Hans  and
Nancy S. Marder
Sanja Kutnjak Ivković
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
Shari Seidman Diamond
Affiliation:
Northwestern University, Illinois
Valerie P. Hans
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Nancy S. Marder
Affiliation:
Chicago-Kent College of Law
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Summary

Ten years have passed since the lay judge or Saiban’in system was introduced in Japan in 2009. Not only did this have a significant impact on the way the criminal court operates, but it also represented an important step in raising the legal consciousness of citizens regarding state affairs. This chapter has three objectives. First, we present a brief history of the varied systems of lay participation adopted in Japan and examine the sociopolitical context in which the most recent system of Saiban’in trial was introduced. Second, we analyze the functioning of the lay judge system in its first decade of operation. Finally, we examine the sociopolitical consequences of the lay judge system in relation to: (a) Saiban’in trials of foreign military personnel stationed in Okinawa; (b) the contribution of the Former Lay Judge Network to calls for the abolition of the death penalty; and (c) the role of former Saiban’in in the 2016 implementation of recording and videotaping of interrogations. We conclude by examining the future of the lay participation system in Japan.

Keywords

Saiban’incriminal justiceJapanlay judgemixed tribunalreform
Type
Chapter
Information
Juries, Lay Judges, and Mixed Courts
A Global Perspective
 , pp. 69 - 87
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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