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Japan turns
to Hawaii to
learn how to reform
its legal system

One hundred Japanese lawyers
visit UH, sit in on our trials and
talk about revising their
legal culture

By Susan Kreifels
Star-Bulletin

The Japanese once believed their bureaucracy protected them, and they didn't question its rigidity. But then the country's unsinkable economy sunk to historic lows and, now, even their judicial system is under scrutiny.

"Before, we didn't need courts," said Japanese law professor Takashi Maruta. "People said, 'Let the bureaucrats do it.' Then the economy failed. Now, there is a distrust of bureaucrats."

Maruta joined 100 Japanese attorneys who visited Hawaii recently to learn about the U.S. jury system. The University of Hawaii-Manoa's William S. Richardson School of Law hosted the group, which sat in on state and federal trials and talked to the legal community.

"We want to learn the experience of the American people," Kazuhiro Terai, secretary general of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, said in a recent interview. "By the people and for the people."

The federation, which includes all 17,000 Japanese attorneys, wants the government to increase the number of lawyers who can be licensed every year, and to provide more legal aid for the needy. It also wants to switch to a jury system. Trials now are decided by a panel of three government- appointed career judges.

Although attorneys said opinion polls show support for what they want to do, Maruta believes there's not strong public opinion one way or the other. The bar federation plans a public education campaign about the legal system.

The prime minister already has appointed a 30-member Judicial System Reform Committee, which is to report its recommendations to the government in July 2001.

Came to see local Japanese

Terai said attorneys chose Hawaii to visit because traditional belief holds that a jury system "is not suitable for the Japanese culture. In Hawaii, there are many Japanese Americans. We came to see for ourselves."

And, they were enthusiastic. "The attorneys are so interested. They stay late and ask questions. They talk about it at the hotels," Maruta said during the visit.

"The tour guides are upset because we are late for the buses, and we are not touring. There is no shopping. They (guides) can't believe it."

It's unusual to get a visiting delegation of such size and stature, said UH law school dean Lawrence Foster. There's major concern about using jury trials in Japan, he noted. Class- and gender-consciousness makes it difficult for "a young secretary to feel she will be on par with a senior business executive." The culture also makes it difficult for people to speak up publicly.

Maruta, a U.S.-educated attorney and visiting law professor at UH-Manoa, said the Japanese government perpetuates stereotypes that "Japanese people don't litigate and they are so amicable."

But that's only a cover for not wanting to spend the time and money needed for litigation, he said. He said he expected the government will change the judicial system.

The business community, which benefited the most from government protection, is leading the charge for change. Companies now have to rely more on themselves and need more than the 200-300 Japanese lawyers who have international experience. Foreign attorneys are banned from working for Japanese companies, he said.

About 4,500 students finish undergraduate law school each year, but only 1,000 are accepted into the legal training center, at government expense, to become licensed attorneys. The bar association wants that increased to between 2,000 and 3,000 a year. (The 17,000 attorneys in Japan, with half the U.S. population, compares to 800,000 American lawyers).

With a backlog of cases and a shortage of attorneys, the few who are licensed can pick and choose, while other disputes are sometimes resolved in "underground" and questionable ways, the visiting attorneys said.

That's also why they want to see their government spend more on legal aid for the poor. Now, Japan spends only 10 percent of what the United States does.

Verdicts rarely questioned

While attorneys also want to move to a jury system, the government prefers a "mixed court," modeled after European systems that use a mix of judges and jury members chosen from local government, business or elsewhere, Maruta said.

There are 2,500 career judges in the country, chosen right out of school without trial experience. Maruta called them "good and obedient, not argumentative." The judges focus on the prosecution, visiting attorneys said.

On the other hand, citizens rarely question judges' verdicts, Maruta noted.

"The police work very precisely," and they don't bring people to trial unless they are sure they have a solid case, he said. The conviction rate in Japan is 99.8 percent, and the public believes those found guilty usually deserve it, Maruta said.

The punishment for convicted criminals is tough, with no-nonsense, silent, cold prisons. The public is never told about executions, and families are simply handed a few possessions with an explanation that the prisoner "died." Only human rights groups monitor them.

While Americans have a history of cherishing their legal system, Japanese do not, Maruta said.

"For 50 years people didn't care about change," he said. "They've been more concerned about private interests. Now, it's time to wake up."