White Paper on Attorneys 2023

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Please see the Japanese version of the 2023 edition of the White Paper for a special feature titled "The Current Situation and Future Prospects of School Attorneys"

Special Feature: Making Interrogations Transparent – Current State & Challenges

Part 1. Statistics Regarding the Legal Profession

Chapter 1. Attorney Demographics...2

1.1	The Japan Federation of Bar Associations and the Attorney Population	2
1.2	Attorney Population by Age Group	4

Chapter 2. Legal Profession Demographics...5

2.1	Number of Law School Applicants and Enrollment	5
2.2	Statistics for Successful Examinees in Bar Examination	6
	2.2.1 Pass Rate of Bar Examination	6
	2.2.2 Demographics of the Preliminary Examination for the Bar Examination	9
2.3	Number of Apprentices Who Completed Legal Apprenticeship Training by Career Path	10
2.4	Change in the Number of Judges, Prosecutors, and Attorneys over Time	12
2.5	Gender Ratio of Law School Students, Bar Examination, Preliminary Bar Examination, and Those Who Completed Legal Apprenticeship Training	13
2.6	Number of Attorneys in Japan Compared to Other Countries	16
2.7	Change in Other Legal Profession Populations over Time	18

Chapter 3. Mergers of Law Firms and Statistics of Legal Professional Corporations…19

3.1	Law Firm Size	19
3.2	Legal Professional Corporation Statistics	21
	3.2.1 Number of Legal Professional Corporations	21
	3.2.2 Size of Legal Professional Corporations	22

Chapter 4. Facts about Registered Foreign Lawyers (Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi)

…24

4.1	Change in the Number of Registered Foreign Lawyers over Time	24
4.2	Registration of Registered Foreign Lawyers	25
4.3	Status of Alliances in the Form of Foreign Law Joint Enterprises	26
4.4	Incorporations of Registered Foreign Lawyer Corporations (Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi Hojin)	28
4.5	Employment Status of Attorneys Hired by Registered Foreign Lawyers or Registered Foreign Lawyer Corporations	29
4.6	Number of Foreign Lawyers Employed by Attorneys and LPCs	29
	4.6.1 By Nationality	29
	4.6.2 By Jurisdiction Where the Attorney's License was Obtained	29

Part 2. Activities of Attorneys

Chapter 1. Criminal Advocacy Activities…32

1.1	Duty Attorney (Toban Bengoshi) and Court-Appointed Defense Counsel Systems for Suspects	32
	1.1.1 Outline of Duty Attorney (Toban Bengoshi) and Court-Appointed Defense Counsel System for Suspects	32
	1.1.2 Current Situation of the Duty Attorney (Toban Bengoshi) System	33
	1.1.3 Changes in the Number of Duty Attorney Requested Cases, Appointed Cases, and Criminal Suspect Defense Aid Cases	33
	1.1.4 Public Defense System Available Prior to Institution of Prosecution	34
	1.1.4.1 Operation Status of Court-Appointed Defense Counsel System for Suspects	34
	1.1.4.2 Permission or Rejection for Detention Requests	36
1.2	Status of Defense Attorneys' Involvement in Overall Criminal Cases	37
	1.2.1 Status of Court-Appointed Defense Counsel Contracts and the Number of Defendants with Court-Appointed Defense Counsel	37
	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	37
	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	38
	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	39
1.3	Defense Activities in Juvenile Cases	40
1.4	The Lay Judge System	43
	1.4.1 Cases Determined by Lay Judges	43
	1.4.2 Actual Practice of Lay Judge Trials	44
	1.4.2.1 Number of Persons Who Have Been Subjected to Saiban-in (Lay Judges) Trials that Have Been Disposed of	44
	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.	44

Chapter 2. Activities in Civil and Other Lawsuits…47

2.1	Civil Lawsuits	47
	2.1.1 Attorneys' Involvement in Ordinary Civil Lawsuits at District Courts	47
	2.1.2 Attorneys' Involvement in Ordinary Civil Lawsuits at Summary Courts	48
	2.1.3 Changes in the Percentage of Appointed Attorneys in Ordinary Second Instance Trials (at High Courts)	49
	2.1.4 Labor Tribunal Cases	50
	(1) Number of Labor Tribunal Cases Newly Accepted by and Concluded at District Courts	50
	(2) Status of Appointing Agents in Labor Tribunal Proceedings at District Courts	51
2.2	Supporting Activities for Criminal Victims	52
2.3	JFBA Support Activities for Affected People in Relation to the Great East Japan Earthquake	53
	2.3.1 Recommendations, etc. the JFBA has Issued in Response to Disasters	53

Chapter 3. Expansion of Attorneys' Activities …56

3.1	Current Situation of In-house Attorneys	56
	3.1.1 Changes in the Number of In-house Attorneys	56
	3.1.2 Situation of Public Officers with Fixed Terms	57
3.2	Diet Members and Head of Local Governments Registered as Attorneys	59

Chapter 4. Recent Situation Facing Attorneys - Results from Attorney Census

4.1	Employment Status of Attorneys	60
4.2	Workplace Size	63
4.3	Attorneys' Working Hours	63
4.4	Breakdown of Working Hours	64
4.5	Revenue and Income of Attorneys	65
4.6	Change in Revenue and Income over Time	67
	4.6.1 Revenue and Income (All Respondents)	67
	4.6.2 Revenue and Income (by Years of Experience and Year in which the Respondent Entered Legal Apprenticeship Training)	68
4.7	Attorneys Engaging in Activities other than Those as an Attorney	69
4.8	Reasons for Not Engaging in Activities as an Attorney	70

Part 3. Activities of the JFBA and Local Bar Associations

Chapter 1. Autonomy of Attorneys…72

1.1	Complaints and Dispute Conciliations	72
	1.1.1 Complaints against Attorneys	72
	1.1.2 Dispute Conciliation	74
	(1) Number of Dispute Conciliation Cases Newly Received	74
	(2) Handling of Dispute Conciliation Cases (All Bar Associations)	74
1.2	Disciplinary System for Attorneys and its Operation	75
	1.2.1 Summary of the Disciplinary System for Attorneys	75
	(1) Request for Discipline	75
	(2) Investigation by Disciplinary Enforcement Committee	75
	(3) Examination by Disciplinary Actions Committee	75
	(4) Filing of an Objection, etc.	75
	(5) Public Notice by the Official Gazette, etc.	76
	1.2.2 Statistics Regarding Disciplinary Action	78
	(1) Changes in the Number of Newly Accepted Requests for Disciplinary Action (All Bar Associations)	78
	(2) Details of Handling of the Requests for Disciplinary Action (All Bar Associations)	79
	(3) Ratio of Disciplinary Action (All Bar Associations)	80
	1.2.3 Operation of the Disciplinary System	81
	(1) Cases Handled by Disciplinary Enforcement Committees of Bar Associations and the JFBA	81
	(2) Cases Handled by Disciplinary Actions Committees of Bar Associations and the JFBA	82
	(3) Cases Handled by the JFBA Board of Discipline Review	83
	1.2.4 The Flow and Current Situation of Disciplinary Procedure	84

Chapter 2. The JFBA's Activities involving Human Rights Redress…85

2.1	The Operation of the Human Rights Redress System	85
	2.1.1 Procedures for Human Rights Redress System	85
	2.1.2 Number of Human Rights Redress Cases (by Category)	87
2.2	Current Situation Regarding Retrial Cases Supported by the JFBA	88
	2.2.1 Retrial Cases Supported by the JFBA	88
	2.2.2 Achievement by the JFBA for its Support on Retrial Request Cases	88

Chapter 3. International Activities of the JFBA…91

3.1	International Human Rights Activities	92
	3.1.1 Activities at the United Nations (UN) and International Conferences	92
	3.1.2 Activities Related to the UN Human Rights Bodies and the UPR	93
3.2	International Cooperation	95
	3.2.1 Past and Current JFBA Assistance Projects for Bar Associations in Developing Countries (by Country)	95
	3.2.2 JICA Long-Term Experts Achievement	97
3.3	International Exchange Activities	99
	3.3.1 Membership of International Organization	99
	3.3.2 Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) Signed between the JFBA and Overseas Bar Organizations	99
	3.3.3 MOUs Signed between Local Bar Associations and Overseas Bar Organizations	99
3.4	Overseas Visiting Scholar Program	101
	3.4.1 JFBA Visiting Scholar Program	101
	3.4.2 Past Visiting Scholars	101
3.5	Support for Career Development in International Public Service	102
	3.5.1 Implementation of Various Seminars and Events	103
	3.5.2 Support System for Career Development in International Public Service	103
	3.5.3 Implementation of Judicial Apprentice Training and Internships at the Offices of International Organizations in Japan	104
3.6	Promotion of International Practice by Attorneys	104
	3.6.1 JFBA' s Activities to Promote International Practice by Attorneys	104
	3.6.2 Attorney Referral System for Japanese SMEs Going Overseas	105

Chapter 4. Other Activities…107

4.1	Legal Expenses Insurance (Right Protection Insurance) System		107

Part 4. Comprehensive Legal Support

Chapter 1. Japan Legal Support Center (Ho-terasu)…110

1.1	Main Operations of Ho-terasu		110
1.2	Support Operations Entrusted by the JFBA		111

White Paper on Attorneys 2023

Contents