4th Basic Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality at the JFBA

• 日本語版 (Japanese)

February 16, 2023
Japan Federation of Bar Associations

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) developed its “Basic Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality at the JFBA” in March 2008, based on the Basic Framework for Gender Equality in the JFBA established in April 2007 and the “Resolution Aiming at Gender Equality in the JFBA” adopted at the 58th JFBA General Meeting in May 2007. The JFBA has developed a new such plan every five years by reviewing its previous efforts and updating related plans, resulting in the development of the “2nd Basic Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality at the JFBA” in March 2013 and the “3rd Basic Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality at the JFBA” in January 2018.

General Overview

1. Past Efforts for the Promotion of Gender Equality at the JFBA

1. (1) The promotion of gender equality at the JFBA is not only essential for eliminating gender bias from the judicial system but is also of significance in enhancing public confidence about attorneys, bar associations and the judicial system.
2. The JFBA took its first step towards realizing gender equality through the adoption of the “Resolution Aiming for Judicial Reform Integrating Gender Perspectives” at the 53rd JFBA General Meeting on May 24, 2002. Subsequently, the “Basic Framework for Gender Equality in the JFBA” was established at the meeting of the JFBA Board of Governors held on April 20, 2007, followed by the “Resolution Aiming for Gender Equality in the JFBA” adopted at the 58th JFBA General Meeting held on May 25, 2007. The JFBA established the Headquarters for the Promotion of Gender Equality (the “Headquarters”) on June 14, 2007. On March 13, 2008, the JFBA released the “Basic Plan for the Promotion of Gender-Equality at the JFBA” (the “1st Basic Plan”) which set forth detailed measures to be taken to promote gender equality at the JFBA for the following five years. The Basic Plan has been updated every five years since then, based on the outcomes of the reviews on the achievements of the JFBA’s related efforts, leading to the release of the “2nd Basic Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality at the JFBA” on March 14, 2013 and the “3rd Basic Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality at the JFBA” (the “3rd Basic Plan”) on January 19, 2018. The JFBA focused on nine issues as the central issues to be addressed during the years covered under the 3rd Basic Plan. As fiscal year 2022 was the final year under the 3rd Basic Plan, a review of the JFBA’s efforts and an update of the related plans were conducted.

1. (2) Achievements of the Past Five Years (Fiscal Year 2018 Through Fiscal Year 2022) under the 3rd Basic Plan
2. As for building and maintaining the structure for the promotion of gender equality in the JFBA, the JFBA has made an annual request to each committee within the organization to select a member responsible for promoting gender equality and come up with measures to be taken by the committee itself, while continuing to also hold study group sessions and group discussions regarding the promotion of gender equality for such members selected by each committee. In addition, a national campaign on gender equality was held in order to investigate the status of the promotion of gender equality in each region and raise awareness of the matter while incorporating an online format in consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the five years covered under the 3rd Basic Plan, independent bodies under names such as the “Headquarters for the Promotion of Gender Equality” or the like were established by fourteen bar associations and four federations of bar associations; documents such as basic frameworks, resolutions and declarations regarding gender equality were compiled and published by sixteen bar associations and two federations of bar associations; and rules aiming to prevent sexual harassment were adopted by forty-seven bar associations across the country (as of April 2022).
3. As for increasing the proportion of females among attorneys, a symposium has been held annually in support of female junior high school and high school students choosing a legal career path as part of a gender equality promotion project run by the Cabinet Office utilizing a network among the national and local governments for coordination and communication for fiscal year 2016 through fiscal year 2019, and as an online event organized by the JFBA itself for fiscal year 2020 through fiscal year 2021. Many such students, along with their parents and teachers, have attended such event each year.
4. As for increasing the participation of female members in the decision-making process for the JFBA’s policies, a target has been set every five years since the 1st Basic Plan regarding the percentage of female members among the JFBA’s Vice Presidents and Governors who are involved in the decision-making process for such policies and among committee members. When such percentage was raised to 20% in the 3rd Basic Plan, a quota system for females in vice president positions was introduced with the addition of two such positions dedicated to females, while also establishing a project team for assessing the quota system which is in charge of operating the system within the Headquarters. Furthermore, a new clause requiring efforts to be made toward improving the environment in such a way that increases the proportion of female governors to over 30% was introduced in the JFBA’s Articles of Association while establishing a quota system for females in governor positions with the addition of four such positions dedicated to females from fiscal year 2021. In parallel with these efforts, the JFBA has also worked to achieve the over-30% target by promoting the improvement of the environment to pave the way for female members to assume the role of president of a bar association (who are also governors) and securing spots dedicated to females from among those who are nominated for governor positions (who are not also presidents of bar associations) in cooperation with bar associations and federations of bar associations, resulting in twenty female members assuming governor positions (26.7%) in fiscal year 2021 and six female members assuming vice president positions (40%) in fiscal year 2022.
5. As for reducing disparities in areas such as income and work between male and female members, efforts have been made mainly by a project team on female external board members established within the Headquarters to: (i) promote understanding about the important role of female attorneys becoming external board members in incorporating a gender perspective into cooperate governance and business strategy; and (ii) increase the number of female attorneys registered on lists of external board member candidates prepared by bar associations and companies signing on to use such lists through actions such as creating training tools and holding symposiums on a continuous basis while deploying publicity activities on the JFBA website, such as creating a dedicated page to introduce such lists and posting messages from business operators on female external board members and interviews with female attorneys who are serving/have served as such board members.
6. As for supporting a better work-life balance, the JFBA has amended its rules to grant an exemption from the payment of membership dues to members who are on parental leave for the period of such leave, and has also worked on disseminating knowledge of this exemption system to JFBA members along with the extension of the exemption period and changes in the format of a childcare report, resulting in such exemption being adopted by fifty-one bar associations throughout the country (as of April 2022). In addition, the JFBA conducted a survey to learn more about members’ attitudes towards nursing care and the reality of their involvement in such care, and published the outcomes of the survey on the members-only section of the JFBA website.

2. Developing the JFBA’s 4th Basic Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality

1. (1) As for expanding gender equality in the judicial field, the Japanese government published its Fifth Basic Plan for Gender Equality which included extended efforts on positive actions to be taken within bar associations, such as establishing quota systems, with the aim of reaching the 30% target for women being involved in the decision-making process for policies as early in the 2020s as possible, and realizing a society within the 2030s where anyone can play an active role regardless of gender and there is no gender imbalance in leadership positions. In view of the target set by the government for women’s involvement in such decision-making process, it is reasonable to set the JFBA’s target on the matter at 30%, in order to better align with social expectations in this regard. However, considering the fact that the proportion of female members in vice president and governor positions at the JFBA has only exceeded 20% on average for the past five years even with the existing quota systems, more aggressive measures are needed to reach the 30% target.

1. (2) Having said that, in order to achieve the 30% target, it is essential to steadily develop an environment in which female members can participate in the JFBA’s affairs more easily through actions such as analyzing and removing elements that are preventing the expansion of female members’ participation in such affairs and developing a support system for such members. Among other things, the widespread use of digital communication tools introduced in response to the COVID pandemic is expected to further reduce constraints faced by members in terms of when and where they work when participating in the JFBA’s affairs.

1. (3) More fundamentally speaking, it is necessary to increase the proportion of female attorneys in the first place. However, the percentage of females among attorneys in Japan has only increased by 1.2% from 18.4% in 2017 (as of March 31, 2017) to 19.6 % in 2022 (as of May 31, 2022). In addition, the percentage of females among successful bar examinees has still not reached 30%, although the number is now on the rise having shifted from a recent decline.
2. Furthermore, the breakdown of the career paths chosen by females who completed the legal apprenticeship training program in April 2022 shows that the percentage of female lawyers remains at only 24.9% (although the number itself is higher, at 283) as opposed to 32.9% (24) for judges and 38.9% (28) for prosecutors. Given these current circumstances, increasing the proportion of females among registered attorneys is an urgent task to be tackled by bar associations led by the JFBA as the courts and the Public Prosecutors Office are also working towards resolving the same issue. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to actively engage female students on a continuous basis through outreach efforts, including by providing information on the legal profession, especially regarding becoming an attorney, by holding symposiums and other events, and encouraging such students to choose a career path in the law.

1. (4) Furthermore, it is necessary to make becoming an attorney more appealing to women in order to increase the number and percentage of successful female bar examinees wishing to become attorneys. To this end, the assumed aim is to steadily move towards achieving a better work-life balance and consider measures for building an environment which enables female members to continue working regardless of their circumstances while following the Japanese government’s 5th Basic Plan for Gender Equality. Building such an environment can also serve as an opportunity for male members to reflect on their own work styles. In addition, efforts such as providing model cases of successful female attorneys who have achieved diverse working styles are needed as role models in order to put forth an appealing image of being an attorney into society.

1. (5) In the meantime, the JFBA will continue to consider concrete measures to eliminate the imbalance of female attorneys in regional areas, which can be an obstacle that prevents citizens from accessing female attorneys. In addition, gender discriminatory behaviors of and treatment by members constitute serious human rights violations and can cause the public to lose their confidence in attorneys and bar associations. Thus, it is imperative that such behaviors and treatment be eliminated, and efforts to raise awareness of these issues must be further enhanced through actions such as providing training for JFBA members. Furthermore, with the aim of moving towards reducing disparities in areas such as income and work between male and female members, analysis needs to be conducted from specific points of view such as on gender-based obstacles faced by members. It is necessary to take measures to address these issues in a conscious manner which ensures that attorneys and bar associations will continue to truly gain the trust of society.

1. (6) In addition, it is necessary to ensure that the diversity of people’s sexuality is respected in every aspect of the JFBA moving forward. The challenge of eliminating discrimination against women and achieving gender equality, as well as the challenge of eliminating discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and gender characteristics and achieving equality, are two different challenges. However, there are intersecting and overlapping issues between these two challenges, which means that there is a practical connection between them whereby resolving one challenge will also result in helping to resolve the other.

3. Central Issues to be Addressed Over the Next Five Years (Fiscal Year 2023 through Fiscal Year 2027)

1. Under this 4th Basic Plan, the JFBA will focus on the following nine issues as the central issues to be addressed over the next five years based on the progress under and challenges arising from the 3rd Basic Plan;
2. (a) Building and maintaining the JFBA’s structure for the promotion of gender equality;
3. (b) Conducting training and awareness raising activities;
4. (c) Increasing the proportion of females among attorneys;
5. (d) Eliminating the imbalance of female attorneys in regional areas;
6. (e) Increasing the participation of female members in the decision-making process for the JFBA’s policies;
7. (f) Eliminating work barriers based on gender, supporting female members expanding their work areas, and supporting a diverse array of working styles;
8. (g) Preventing gender discriminatory behaviors and treatment;
9. (h) Supporting a better work-life balance; and
10. (i) Achieving gender equality in the judicial system

The JFBA will continue to make active efforts for the promotion of gender equality over the next five years by following this 4th Basic Plan which will be reviewed again in order to be updated in fiscal year 2027.