Despite all the efforts of people in Japan and globally, there are still wars, violations of human rights, and destruction of the environment around the world. Human beings will hardly be able to survive without making the 21st century one of peace, human rights, and the environment. In the situation, the role of justice is extremely important. A path for the future will be paved by achieving the rule of law, protecting human rights and realizing social justice. It is our mission to create a society of all fairness, equitability, and understanding through justice.

To ensure justice can fulfill this role, the rule of law should be spread across the country and justice should gain people's confidence. Justice should be based on the people, easily accessible and able to live up to the people's expectations as well as maintaining its independence. We are expected to responsibly implement our own recommendations and realize "Justice for the People" throughout the country.

Critical issues and policies in JFBA's 2007 activities are as follows.

1. For year 2009

Attorneys and bar associations have long advocated a public criminal defense system for suspects. In the first stage starting in October 2006, public defense attorneys were appointed at the pre-indictment detention stage in the case of certain serious crimes. In the second stage that embarks in May 2009, the scope of the national defense attorney system will be expanded to include cases being provided penal servitude/imprisonment for maximum three years or more and the number of the cases to be covered by this system will increase to about 100,000. The Saiban-in system will also start around the same time. This will bring both unprecedented qualitative and quantitative changes to bar associations, and our measures to be undertaken for these changes will determine the future of criminal trials in Japan. It is difficult to prepare for such drastic changes only in a previous year, thus we should start to plan and undertake measures to ensure we would be well prepared by 2009. Our greatest challenge is to actively take this opportunity to change Japanese criminal trials and develop effective measures across the country.

(1) For Public Criminal Defense System for Suspects

In order to effectively implement the system across Japan, each bar association should secure the necessary number of members and retaining attorneys who serve as court-appointed attorneys. In addition, it is indispensable to increase the number of staff attorneys of the Japan Legal Support Center.

The JFBA, mainly the JFBA Central Board on Public Criminal Defense System, aims to plan concrete measures and develop collaborative relationships by visiting each bar association to explain and promote the JFBA's measures.

(2) For Saiban-in System

Rules concerning the Saiban-in system are going to be established by the summer of 2007, and procedures to select Saiban-in and deliberation methods will be substantively established. As the system will start just in two years, we should provide training programs and hold mock trials across the country in order to ensure that attorneys fulfill their quantitative and qualitative responsibilities in the Saiban-in system. In addition, the JFBA, collaborating with judges and public prosecutors, urges the government to create an environment where the people easily accept to be Saiban-in as well as enlightening the people about the system. The JFBA also will conduct its own public relations activities to promote the system.

2 Raise of Fees of Court-Appointed Attorneys

As the total expenditure on the public criminal defense system will remain almost same, the budget needs to be increased for raising fees for court-appointed attorneys. We will call for understanding of the people and the government by specifying how much time and effort sufficient criminal defense requires.

3. Cooperation with the Japan Legal Support Center

The Japan Legal Support Center has operated without any serious problems since it started providing services in October 2006. We will further request to improve its services and will cooperate in making its branches provide better services with respecting their own initiatives.

(1)Reserving Staff Attorneys

It is apparent that a certain number of staff attorneys are required to effectively take measures for year 2009 and the communities where shortages of attorneys make it difficult for sufficient legal services to be provided. The JFBA will ensure that the necessary number of attorneys are available. In order to allow staff attorneys to practice without constraints, the JFBA will consider to negotiate about increase of their compensation and to establish a collaborative system of bar associations.

(2) Cooperation with Practices Based on Paragraph 1 of Article 30 of the Comprehensive Legal Support Law

Attorneys and bar associations should cooperate in enabling the call center and branch offices of the Japan Legal Support Center to guarantee access to justice and meet the public needs. The JFBA should identify underlying legal needs in our society and should work for early settlement of disputes.

(3) Entrustment of Voluntary Activities

The JFBA will entrust voluntary activities of the Japan Legal Aid Association to the Japan Legal Support Center in October 2007. As these voluntary activities should be covered by public money, the JFBA will consider a frame of the activities to be included in the services of the Japan Legal Support Center while spreading and developing the activities throughout the country.

4. Reform of Criminal Justice

(1) Realization of Electronic Recording of Interrogations

12 individuals in Kagoshima prefecture accused of the violation of the Public Offices Election Law and one in Toyama prefecture who spent about two years in prison due to a wrongful conviction were found innocent and these cases revealed how illegal interrogations were conducted. The public opinions are moving toward introduction of the electronic recording of interrogations. Many countries have implemented the electronic recording of interrogations and it is appropriate in view of the Saiban-in system. The JFBA will strive to introduce the electronic recording of interrogations as soon as possible.

(2) Fight against Hostage Justice

From the above-mentioned Kagoshima's case, it is apparent that there is so-called "hostage justice" under which if a defendant denies the charge or remains silent, it is difficult to be bailed out. With the aim of defeating the hostage justice, the JFBA makes every effort to improve practices of bail, revise the Code of Criminal Procedure, and establish a new system to bail out suspects prior to conviction.

(3) Reform of Detention System

The role of committees for inspecting penal institutions and detention institutions is important. A certain improvement is going to be made for communication with defense attorneys and others during nighttime and holidays. The Legislative Council of the Ministry of Justice is currently discussing measures to limit the number of detainees in each institutions as appropriate including rehabilitation for individuals released from prisons in order to prepare to return to the society. The JFBA strives to comprehensively reform the detention system.

5. Legal Practice

The JFBA, centering the JFBA Center for Promotion of Legal Practice, will make its utmost effort to comprehensively promote legal practices and expand employment opportunities for new attorneys to be admitted to bar this autumn. In addition, it is necessary to verify legal needs by conducting various researches in order to undertake effective measures for increasing attorneys. The JFBA also strives to develop a nation-wide system to provide information on attorneys and to expand the areas in which attorneys would provide legal services by promoting legal needs of medium and small companies, etc.

6. Continuing Challenges for Judicial Reform

(1) For Systematic Legal Training

Continuing legal education and training from law schools to legal training are necessary to produce high quality attorneys. In addition, as the importance to provide continuing legal education is increasing, we should undertake systematic measures.

(2) Reform of Judge System and Promotion of Appointment of Attorneys as Judges

The sufficient number and quality of attorneys is essential in order to ensure justice to meet the needs of the age. We will work toward reform of the judge system in order to ensure not only to maintain the conventional function of courts but also to promote more active roles of courts.

We will continuously engage in improving the judge system by promoting appointment of attorneys as judges and the part-time judge system.

(3) Other Issues

We will work for reform of administrative litigation, the labor adjudication system, consumer affairs, realization of a system allowing individuals to submit a written communication to a UN body for consideration by ratifying the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and continuous challenges for the judicial reform.

Moreover, we will actively work to realize gender equality in our society.

7. For Human Rights and Environment

To make the 21st Century fruitful, it is critical to undertake measures to protect human rights and environment. The JFBA will tackle substantial issues on multiple borrowers, the social safety net, and protection of the environment based on the achievement of the JFBA Convention on Protection of Human Rights held in October 2006 in Kushiro, Hokkaido.

We need to learn and implement advanced systems of foreign countries to resolve these issues, and environmental issues should be dealt with by international cooperation.

8. Constitutional Issues

A bill to establish procedures for a national referendum is currently under deliberation, and the revision of the Constitution is getting emerged as a hot issue for the upcoming election for the House of Councillors. We will strive to give a clear indication to the people as to what the Constitution is and for whom the Constitution exists and try to stimulate national debate.

9. Urgent Challenges

During the current session, the Diet is going to deliberate on the Juvenile Law, amendments of the Code of Criminal Procedure aiming to protect rights and interests of crime victims, and a law concerning a national referendum. The JFBA will continue to urge our opinions from its standpoint with asking public understanding.

Especially, the JFBA will keep urging careful deliberations on a system to enable crime victims to participate in criminal trials because the system would drastically change Japanese criminal trials and could lead to irrecoverable troubles in the future.

10. Collective Effort toward Progress

In 2006, we achieved major results in lowering the ceiling on interest rates and the gatekeeper issue by consolidating all efforts of the bar associations across the country. It showed that alliance between the total support by public opinions and efforts of bar associations could be a great power to move the government.

With this experience, the JFBA makes steady efforts throughout the country in 2007 as well as appealing the rightness of its opinions to the people to gain their full support in order to ensure progress moving forward for each issue. Playing our roles as attorneys and bar associations with full responsibility will ascertain the support and confidence from the people. The JFBA and its members will make utmost efforts to realize "Justice for the People".

Seigoh Hirayama
President
Japan Federation of Bar Associations
April 19, 2007