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Japanese
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-Toward the Secondary
Judicial Reforms from the Viewpoints of Citizens- |
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Ten years
have passed since the Justice System Reform Council under the
Cabinet presented its Recommendations, and now is the time to
review whether the roles of justice have been improved as originally
expected. While committing to the protection of human rights for
all citizens including the economically and socially vulnerable,
we should also aim to enhance access to justice and reform the
professional legal training and education system, improve the
criminal justice system in order to prevent miscarriages of justice,
and bring the human rights protection systems in line with international
norms. The judicial reforms conducted based on the Recommendations
shall be referred to as the “First Judicial Reforms,”
and by reviewing and developing the outcomes of the First Judicial
Reforms, the JFBA will exert its utmost efforts to bring about
the “Secondary Judicial Reforms” in order to achieve
the objectives listed below. |
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I.Building
Citizens’ Trust in Justice |
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1. Setting up
the Committee on Poverty |
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The JFBA will set up the
Committee on Poverty and provide nation-wide legal counseling
services for poverty and labor related problems. The JFBA will
also strive to improve labor legislation and the public welfare
assistance system as well as addressing the issues surrounding
poverty including suicide prevention measures. |
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2. Drastic Enhancement
of Legal Aid – Provision of a Judicial Safety Net |
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The JFBA will work to
broaden the scope of cases covered by legal aid, ease the eligibility
requirements for exemption from payment of legal aid loans, and
establish a legal aid grant and co-payment system. |
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3. Improvement
of Activities aimed at Providing Legal Services for Citizens |
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The JFBA will strengthen
its activities in order to provide various legal services meeting
a wide range of citizens’ needs, including support for small
and medium-sized companies, the elderly, consumers, and victims
of crime. |
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4. Activation
of PR on Access to Justice |
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The JFBA will activate public relations activities on attorneys’
practices and work to gain the trust of the public in the justice
system and bar associations. |
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5. Reforms of
Courts and the Judicial System |
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The JFBA will conduct
nation-wide campaigns, in collaboration with citizens and local
governments, to bring about a drastic increase in the number of
judges and public prosecutors. The JFBA will also work to promote
and improve the appointment of attorneys as full-time and part-time
judges. |
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6. Improvement
of Attorney Training |
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The JFBA will further
enhance its training programs on attorney’s ethics and specialties
in order to meet a wide variety of legal needs for the public
at large. |
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7. Solutions for
Regional Shortages and Uneven Distribution of Attorneys |
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The JFBA will take comprehensive
measures to provide more support for attorneys working for the
Japan Legal Support Center and Himawari Fund Law Offices (bar-funded
law offices) as well as those who intend to practice and settle
in areas suffering from a shortage of attorneys. |
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8. Reforms of
Civil and Administrative Trial Systems, Making Them More Accessible
to Citizens |
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The JFBA will seek to
amend the Civil Code in order to make it more easily understandable
for citizens. The JFBA will also work to achieve improvements
in access to civil justice including the introduction of a civil
adjudication system as well as lowering or fixing the expenses
necessary to file lawsuits. In addition, it will work towards
the realization of an administrative litigation system which opens
its doors to citizens as well as the improvement and reform of
other Japanese trial systems. |
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9. Countermeasures
to Issues on Other Legal Professions |
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The JFBA will oppose broadening
the scope of practice by legal professionals other than attorneys,
which would not sufficiently and effectively protect the interests
of legal service users. |
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10. Promotion
of International Exchange Activities |
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The JFBA will further
increase its exchange activities with bar organizations in other
countries. The JFBA will also immediately and appropriately amend
its Articles of Association and rules concerning the incorporation
of registered foreign lawyers. |
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II Establishment
of an Attractive Professional Legal Training and Education System
under which Highly Motivated Persons Aiming to become Legal
Professionals Can Pursue Their Careers |
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1. Setting up
an Emergency Central Board on the Allowance Payment System for
Judicial Apprentices |
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The JFBA believes that
the path for legal professionals should not be closed for those
lacking in sufficient financial capabilities, and thus, it will
urge the enhancement of the law school student loan system and
set up an emergency central board on the allowance payment system
for judicial apprentices within the JFBA’s Board of Governors
to maintain the allowance payment system for judicial apprentices,
which is set to be abolished this November. |
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2. Creation of
a Continuous Professional Legal Training and Education System |
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The JFBA will work to
make the professional legal training and education system continuous
by identifying the roles and linkages of each stage, i.e., with
law schools being the focal stage, followed by and connect to
the bar examination, legal apprentice training, and continuous
legal education. The JFBA will continue to consider reducing the
fixed number of law school students as well as contemplating the
optimum criteria for the bar examination and preliminary tests.
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3. Setting up
a Center to Support Young Attorneys |
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The JFBA will set up a
center to support young attorneys and enhance pre-legal apprentice
training programs, increase job opportunities and provide assistance
in opening law offices for new attorneys. |
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4. Broader Practice
Fields |
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In order to make our profession
more attractive to young people, the JFBA will put forward their
best efforts to drastically expand our practice fields in both
the public and private sectors as well as with assisting small
and medium-sized companies. |
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5. Thorough Consideration
of Professional Legal Training and Education and the Population
of Legal Professionals and Policymaking Designed to Increase Understanding
among Citizens |
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The JFBA will set up a
committee in order to consider an adequate professional legal
training and education system and the number of legal professionals
taking into account the current situation and the mid and long-term
perspectives. In order to slow the pace of the increase in the
number of legal professionals, the JFBA will also create policies
aimed at increasing understanding of this issue among citizens
and make every effort to bring about the realization of that policy.
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III. Towards
Criminal Justice without Miscarriages of Justice |
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1. Determination
of the Causes behind Miscarriages of Justice and Immediate |
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Introduction of the Visual
Recording of the Entire Process of Interrogations
The JFBA will urge the establishment of a third-party body in
order to determine the causes behind miscarriages of justice.
The JFBA will also reinforce its efforts to legislate for the
introduction of the visual recording of the entire process of
interrogations. Furthermore, it will strive to improve and reform
the criminal justice system to have public prosecutors disclose
more evidence and ban the so-called “hostage justice”
system under which, if a defendant denies the charge or remains
silent, it is difficult to receive bail. |
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2. Improvement
and Entrenchment of the Saiban-in (Lay Judge) System
in Japan |
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In order to identify the
problems related to the saiban-in system to be presented at a
review of the system scheduled to be conducted three years after
its implementation, the JFBA will accumulate the experiences of
those involved in saiban-in trials and analyze the problems found
therein. |
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3. Responsibility
for the Court-Appointed Attorney System for Suspects and Request
for its Further Expansion |
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The JFBA will work to
expand the court-appointed attorney system to further cover just-arrested
persons. It will also strive to realize the provision of adequate
expense and fee levels for court-appointed attorneys. |
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4. Towards a Full
Public Attendant System |
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The JFBA will urge the
expansion of the public attendant system to cover all detained
juveniles. In the meantime, until the system is expanded, the
JFBA will improve its system aiming to secure a sufficient number
of attorneys to meet the needs of the expanded system and enhance
its Fund for Juvenile and Criminal Defense. |
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5. Active Involvement
in Legislative Issues Related to Criminal Justice |
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The JFBA will actively
address legislative issues related to criminal justice including
a review of the Act on Penal Detention Facilities and Treatment
of Inmates and Detainees to be conducted five years after its
implementation, improvement of the parole system, and enhancement
of support for persons with criminal records in their re-integration
into society. |
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IV. Enhancement
and Development of Human Rights Protection Systems |
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1. Realization
of the Declaration on Action for Human Rights 2009 |
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The JFBA will make every
effort to achieve each objective listed in the declaration and
create a system to verify its achievements. |
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2. Consumer Rights
Relief |
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The JFBA will urge the
reinforcement of the activities of the Consumer Affairs Agency
and the Consumer Committee. It will also work to improve consumer
administration at local governments and enhance the options available
for consumer redress. |
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3. Gender Equality |
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The JFBA will address
issues concerning amendments to the Civil Code in order to introduce
a system under which anyone is given the choice to keep their
own surname after marriage, legislation to prohibit unequal payments
between the genders, and improvement of support for one-parent
families. |
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4. Medical Treatment
and Environment |
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The JFBA will work to
ensure that everyone is able to receive safe and high quality
medical treatment. It will also commit to the realization of a
low-carbon society and a fundamental revision of the Environmental
Impact Assessment Act. |
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5. Foreign Nationals
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The JFBA will work to
realize voting rights for settled foreign nationals in local elections
and their rights to participate in public service. It will also
work towards achieving legislation to ban discrimination against
foreign nationals. |
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6. Realization
of Recommendations by UN Human Rights Bodies |
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The JFBA will pursue complete
implementation of international human rights norms in Japan. It
will also strive to bring about legislation to suspend execution
of the death penalty and hold national debates on the issue of
capital punishment. |
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7. Immediate Establishment
of a National Human Rights Institution Independent of the Government
and Realization of Individual Complaint Procedures |
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The JFBA will strongly
urge the immediate establishment of a national human rights institution
and the implementation of individual complaint procedures as set
out in UN human rights treaties. |
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8. The Constitution
and Peace |
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The JFBA will convey the
current meaning of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution and
the right to live in peace and address issues surrounding revision
of the Constitution. |
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