White Paper on Attorneys 2020
Special Feature: Achievements and Challenges of Legal Aid
– Human Rights Advocacy by Attorneys and Bar Associations
Chapter 1. Development and Achievements of Legal Aid Programs…2
The JFBA Legal Aid Services: Providing Counsel for Cases Ineligible for State Funded Support |
2 | |
Achievements of the JFBA Legal Aid Programs: Successfully Bringing State/Public Funds in Part | 2 | |
Aiming towards Full State/Public Funding: Key Issues and Other Prospects | 3 |
Chapter 2. Funding Sources for the Legal Aid Programs…4
2.1 | Special Membership Fees | 4 | |
---|---|---|---|
2.2 | Atonement Donation | 5 |
Chapter 3. The Seven Aid Programs: Actual Results and Findings...6
3.1 |
Legal Aid for Victims of Crime |
6 | |
---|---|---|---|
3.2 | Legal Aid Related to Refugee Recognition | 9 | |
3.3 | Legal Aid for Foreign Nationals | 10 | |
3.4 | Legal Aid for Children | 11 | |
3.5 | Legal Aid for Mentally Disabled Persons and Legal Aid Related to the Act on Medical Care and Treatment for Persons Who Have Caused Serious Cases under the Condition of Insanity | 12 | |
3.6 | Legal Aid for Older Adults, People with Disabilities, Homeless People, and Other Vulnerable People | 13 |
Chapter 4. Future Outlook...15
Part 1. Legal Profession Statistics
Chapter 1. Attorney Demographics…18
1.1 | The Japan Federation of Bar Associations and the Attorney Population | 18 | |
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1.2 | Attorney Population by Age Group | 20 |
Chapter 2. Legal Profession Demographics…21
2.1 | Number of Law School Applicants and Enrollment | 21 | |
---|---|---|---|
2.2 | Statistics for Successful Examinees in Bar Examination | 22 | |
2.2.1 Pass Rate of Bar Examination | 22 | ||
2.2.2 Demographics of the Preliminary Examination for the Bar Examination | 22 | ||
2.3 | Number of Apprentices Who Completed the Legal Apprenticeship Training by Career Path | 25 | |
2.4 | Change in the Number of Judges, Prosecutors, and Attorneys over Time | 27 | |
2.5 |
Gender Ratio of Law School Students, Bar Examination, Preliminary Bar Examination, and Those Who Completed the Legal Apprenticeship Training |
28 | |
2.6 | The Number of Attorneys in Japan Compared to Other Countries | 31 | |
2.7 | Change in Other Legal Profession Populations over Time | 33 |
Chapter 3. Mergers of Law Firms and Statistics of Legal Professional Corporations …34
3.1 | Law Firm Size | 34 | |
---|---|---|---|
3.2 | Legal Professional Corporation Statistics | 36 | |
3.2.1 Number of Legal Professional Corporations | 36 | ||
3.2.2 Size of Legal Professional Corporations | 38 |
Chapter 4. Facts about Registered Foreign Lawyers (Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi)
…39
4.1 | Change in the Number of Registered Foreign Lawyers over Time | 39 | |
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4.2 | Registration of Registered Foreign Lawyers | 40 | |
4.3 | Status of Alliances in the Form of Foreign Law Joint Enterprises | 41 | |
4.4 | Incorporations of Registered Foreign Lawyer Corporations (Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi Hojin) | 43 | |
4.5 |
Employment Status of Attorneys Hired by Registered Foreign Lawyers or Registered Foreign Lawyer Corporations |
44 | |
4.6 | Number of Foreign Lawyers Employed by Attorneys and LPCs | 44 | |
4.6.1 By Nationality | 44 | ||
4.6.2 By Jurisdiction Where the Attorney’s License was Obtained | 44 |
Part 2. Activities of Attorneys
Chapter 1. Criminal Advocacy Activities…48
1.1 | Duty Attorney (Toban Bengoshi) and Court-Appointed Defense Counsel Systems for Suspects | 48 | |
---|---|---|---|
1.1.1Outline of Duty Attorney (Toban Bengoshi) and Court-Appointed Defense Counsel System for Suspects |
48 | ||
1.1.2 Current Situation of the Duty Attorney (Toban Bengoshi) System | 49 | ||
1.1.3 Changes in the Number of Duty Attorney Requested Cases, Appointed Cases, and Criminal Suspect Defense Aid Cases |
50 | ||
1.1.4 Public Defense System Available Prior to Institution of Prosecution | 51 | ||
1.1.4.1 Operation Status of Court-Appointed Defense Counsel System for Suspects | 51 | ||
1.1.4.2 Permission or Rejection for Detention Requests | 53 | ||
1.2 | The Status of Defense Attorneys’ Involvement in Overall Criminal Cases | 54 | |
1.2.1 The Status of Court-Appointed Defense Counsel Contracts and the Number of Defendants with Court-Appointed Defense Counsel |
54 | ||
1.2.2 Changes in the Percentage of Defendants Retaining Criminal Defense Counsel (after Institution of Prosecution) (Court-Appointed and Privately Retained) at District Courts |
54 | ||
1.2.3 Changes in the Percentage of Defendants Retaining Criminal Defense Counsel (after Institution of Prosecution) (Court-Appointed and Privately Retained) at Summary Courts |
55 | ||
1.2.4 Changes in the Percentage of Defendants Retaining Criminal Defense Counsel (after Institution of Prosecution) (Court-Appointed and Privately Retained) at High Courts |
56 | ||
1.3 | Defense Activities in Juvenile Cases | 57 | |
1.4 | The Lay Judge System | 59 | |
1.4.1 Cases Determined by Lay Judges | 59 | ||
1.4.2 Actual Practice of Lay Judge Trials | 60 | ||
1.4.2.1 The Number of Persons Who Have Been Subjected to Saiban-in (Lay Judges) Trials that Have Been Disposed of |
60 | ||
1.4.2.2 Comparison of the Average Period Taken for Court Deliberations and the Average Period of the Pretrial Conference Procedure (by confession and denial), etc. |
60 |
Chapter 2. Activities in Civil and Other Lawsuits…63
2.1 | Civil Lawsuits | 63 | |
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2.1.1 Attorneys’ Involvement in Ordinary Civil Lawsuits before District Courts | 63 | ||
2.1.2 Attorneys’ Involvement in Ordinary Civil Lawsuits before Summary Courts | 64 | ||
2.1.3Changes in the Percentage of Appointed Attorneys in Ordinary Second Instance Trials (before High Courts) |
65 | ||
2.1.4 Labor Tribunal Cases | 66 | ||
(1) Number of Labor Tribunal Cases Newly Accepted by and Concluded at District Courts | 66 | ||
(2) Status of Appointing Agents in Labor Tribunal Proceedings at District Courts | 67 | ||
2.2 | Supporting Activities for Criminal Victims | 68 | |
2.3 | JFBA Support Activities for Affected People in Relation to the Great East Japan Earthquake | 69 | |
2.3.1 Recommendations, etc. the JFBA has Issued and Legislation and Systems Realized | 69 |
Chapter 3. Expansion of Attorneys' Activities…71
3.1 | Current Situation of In-house Attorneys | 71 | |
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3.1.1 Changes in the Number of In-house Attorneys | 71 | ||
3.1.2 Situation of Public Officers with Fixed Terms | 72 | ||
3.2 | Diet Members and Head of Local Governments Registered as Attorneys | 74 |
Part 3.Activities of the JFBA and Local Bar Associations
Chapter 1.Autonomy of Attorneys…76
1.1 | Complaints and Dispute Conciliations | 76 | |
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1.1.1 Complaints against Attorneys | 76 | ||
1.1.2 Dispute Conciliation | 78 | ||
(1) Number of Dispute Conciliation Cases Newly Received | 78 | ||
(2) Handling of Dispute Conciliation Cases (All Bar Associations) | 78 | ||
1.2 | Disciplinary System for Attorneys and its Operation | 79 | |
1.2.1 Summary of the Disciplinary System for Attorneys | 79 | ||
(1) Request for Discipline | 79 | ||
(2) Investigation by Disciplinary Enforcement Committee | 79 | ||
(3) Examination by Disciplinary Actions Committee | 79 | ||
(4) Filing of an Objection, etc. | 79 | ||
(5) Public Notice by the Official Gazette, etc. | 80 | ||
1.2.2 Statistics Regarding Disciplinary Action | 82 | ||
(1) Changes in the Number of Newly Accepted Requests for Disciplinary Action (All Bar Associations) | 82 | ||
(2) Details of the Handling the Requests for Disciplinary Action (All Bar Associations) | 83 | ||
(3) Ratio of Disciplinary Action (All Bar Associations) | 84 | ||
1.2.3. Operation of the Disciplinary System | 85 | ||
(1) Cases Handled by Disciplinary Enforcement Committees of Bar Associations and the JFBA | 85 | ||
(2) Cases Handled by Disciplinary Actions Committees of Bar Associations and the JFBA | 86 | ||
(3) Cases Handled by the JFBA Board of Discipline Review | 87 | ||
1.2.4 The Flow and Current Situation of Disciplinary Procedure | 88 |
Chapter 2.The JFBA's Activities involving Human Rights Redress…89
2.1 | The Operation of the Human Rights Redress System | 89 | |
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2.1.1 Procedures for Human Rights Redress System | 89 | ||
2.1.2 The Number of Human Rights Redress Cases (by Category) | 91 | ||
2.2 | Current Situation Regarding Retrial Cases Supported by the JFBA | 92 | |
2.2.1 Retrial Cases Supported by the JFBA | 92 | ||
2.2.2 Achievement by the JFBA for its Support on Retrial Request Cases | 92 |
Chapter 3.International Activities of the JFBA…95
3.1 | International Human Rights Activities | 96 | |
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3.1.1 Activities at the United Nations (UN) and International Conferences | 96 | ||
3.1.2 Activities Related to the UN Human Rights Bodies and the UPR | 97 | ||
3.2 | International Cooperation | 99 | |
3.2.1 Past and Current JFBA Assistance Projects for Bar Associations in Developing Countries (by Country) |
99 | ||
3.2.2 JICA Long-Term Experts Achievement | 101 | ||
3.3 | International Exchange Activities | 103 | |
3.3.1 Membership of International Organization | 103 | ||
3.3.2 MOUs Signed between the JFBA and Overseas Bar Organizations | 103 | ||
3.3.3 MOUs Signed between Local Bar Associations and Overseas Bar Organizations | 103 | ||
3.4 | Overseas Visiting Scholar Program | 105 | |
3.4.1 JFBA Visiting Scholar Program | 105 | ||
3.4.2 Past Visiting Scholars | 105 | ||
3.5 | Support for Career Development in International Public Service | 106 | |
3.5.1 Implementation of Various Seminars and Events | 107 | ||
3.5.2 Support System for Career Development in International Public Service | 107 | ||
3.5.3 Implementation of Judicial Apprentice Training and Internships at the Offices of International Organizations in Japan |
108 | ||
3.6 | Promotion of International Practice by Attorneys | 108 | |
3.6.1 JFBA’s Activities to Promote International Practice by Attorneys | 108 | ||
3.6.2 Attorney Referral System for Japanese SMEs Going Overseas | 109 |
Chapter 4. Other Activities...110
4.1 Legal Expenses Insurance (Right Protection Insurance) System |
110 |
Part 4.Comprehensive Legal Support
Chapter 1. Japan Legal Support Center (Ho-terasu)…112
1.1 | Scope of Operations of Ho-terasu | 112 | |
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1.2 | Support Operations Entrusted by the JFBA | 113 |