Anna Dobrovolskaia is an independent scholar currently based in Tokyo, Japan. Her main areas of interest include the sociology of law and Japan´s legal, political, and cultural history.
This book presents a comprehensive account of past and present efforts to introduce the jury system in Japan. Four legal reforms are documented and assessed: the implementation of the bureaucratic and all-judge special jury systems in the 1870s, the introduction of the all-layperson jury in the late 1920s, the transplantation of the Anglo-American-style jury system to Okinawa under the U.S. Occupation, and the implementation of the mixed-court lay judge (saiban´in) system in 2009. While being primarily interested in the related case studies, the book also discusses the instances when the idea of introducing trial by jury was rejected at different times in Japan´s history. Why does legal reform happen? What are the determinants of success and failure of a reform effort? What are the prospects of the saiban´in system to function effectively in Japan? This book offers important insights on the questions that lie at the core of the law and society debate and are highly relevant for understanding contemporary Japan and its recent and distant past.
Chapter 1. Introduction
Legal Change: Contending Explanations
Plan of the Book
Chapter 2: The Pre-war History of the Concept of Trial by Jury in Japan
Historial Background: The Developments in the Japanese Legal System in the Meiji Period
The Introduction of the Concept of Jury Service to Japan
The Bureaucratic Jury (Sanza) System
The Meiji Constitution: The Public Debate
Boissonade´s Proposal: Provisions Concerning the Jury in the Draft of the Code of Criminal Instruction
Evaluating the First Attempts to Introduce Trial by Jury in Meiji Period Japan
Conclusions
Chapter 3. The Pre-war Jury System
Historical Background: The Developments in the Legal System in the Late Meiji, Taisho, and Early Showa Periods
Drafting and Implementation
The Jury Act: A Summary
Promotion Efforts and Implementation
The Japanese Jury in Action
Amendments and Suspension
Evaluating Japan´s Pre-war Experience with Jury Trials
Conclusions
Chapter 4. Attempts to Introduce the Jury System in Japan´s Colonial Possessions
Historical Background: Japan and Its Colonies
Taiwan: Attempts to Introduce the Jury System in the Japanese Colonial Period
Karafuto: The Jury System on the Island during the Japanese Colonial Period
The Jury System in Colonial Japan: The Colonized Peoples in Japanese Jury Courts
Evaluating the Attempts to Introduce the Jury System in Taiwan and Karafuto
Conclusions
Chapter 5. The Occupation Years: Attempts to Introduce the Jury System
Historical Background: The Developments in the Legal System in the Immediate Post-War Period
The Proposals to Introduce the Jury System in Mainland Japan under the Allied Occupation
The Jury System in Okinawa under the U.S. Occupation
Evaluating Japan´s and Okinawa´s Experiences with Jury Trials under the Occupation
Conclusions
Chapter 6. The Mixed-Court Jury (Saiban´in) System in Contemporary Japan
Historical Background: The Developments in the Legal System in the Post-Occupation Period
The Background to the Adoption of the Lay Judge Act
Drafting and Enactment
The Lay Judge Act: A Summary
Preparation for Enforcement
Public Debate
Implementation and the First Lay Judge Case
The First Six Years of the Functioning of the System
Evaluating Japan´s New Lay Judge (Saiban´in) System
Conclusions
Chapter 7. Conclusions
Why Was the Jury System Introduced (or Ended Up not Being Introduced) at Different Times in Japan´s History?
What Were the Determinants of Success and Failure of Japan´s Past Experiences with the Jury System and How Does the Lay Judge (Saiban´in) System Fare with regard to These Parameters?
A Summary of Findings: Revisiting the Two Approaches to Analyzing Legal Change
Bibliography
Appendix
Illustrations
Index
This book presents a comprehensive account of past and present efforts to introduce the jury system in Japan. Focused on related case studies, the book also discusses the instances when the idea of introducing trial by jury was rejected at different times in Japan´s history. The work further poses the question of whether the saiban´in system is likely to remain an effectively functioning institution, or if it will ultimately repeat the fate of previous unsuccessful experiments. The book offers important insights on a question that is highly relevant for understanding contemporary Japan and its recent and distant past.
"This book is a superb contribution to the field of law and society. It breaks new ground in our understanding of the success and failure of legal transplants, and reveals the political and legal factors that can promote or undermine democratic institutions like trial by jury. All those who are interested in trial by jury and democratic legal reform should read this extraordinary book."
Professor Valerie P. Hans, Cornell Law School, USA
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`This book is a superb contribution to the field of law and society. It breaks new ground in our understanding of the success and failure of legal transplants, and reveals the political and legal factors that can promote or undermine democratic institutions like trial by jury. All those who are interested in trial by jury and democratic legal reform should read this extraordinary book.´
Professor Valerie P. Hans, Cornell Law School, USA
