Spezialisierte Gerichte in Japan und Deutschland

Abstract

Recent developments in science and technology have made expertise indispensable in relation to technical questions in law suits. One possibility to alleviate the lack of expertise of judges is the employment of expert witnesses. Another method is to let experts participate in legal proceedings by other means of judicial organisation. This contribution examines these organisational possibilities by way of an exposition of the situation in Japan and Germany. Several aspects of the two systems are compared.

While Japan has one unified jurisdiction, Germany has a total of six, each of which with its own federal high court (Bundesobergericht). Having said this, specialized courts also exist in Japan, like the Intellectual Property High Court (Chiteki Zaisan Kōtō Saiban-sho), which was established in 2005. While professional judges at this court are assisted by staff with expertise, more than half of the professional judges at the German Federal Patent Court possess specialized knowledge themselves. The chambers and senates of both Japanese and German courts are specialized according to the size of the court.

Exceptionally, not only judges but also non-lawyers sit on panel of judges, e.g. as Saiban-in (lay judges) in criminal matters, judges of the Japanese Supreme Court, or as assessors of arbitration committees. Furthermore, two types of advisors with specialized knowledge are employed by Japanese courts: Saiban-sho chōsa-kan (literally: Judicial investigator) und Senmon i’in (expert advisors). In contrast, non-lawyers are employed in Germany as commercial-law judges (Handelsrichter) at district coutrs or as technical members of the Federal Patent Office (Bundespatentamt).

(The Editors)