Overhauling the Judicial System: Japan’s Response to the Globalizing World

Abstract

I. Introduction
II. Legal System Following the Continental Model
1. Court System
2. The Legal Profession and Its Historical Background
3. The Legal Examination
III. The Justice System Reform Council (JSRC)
IV. The Political and Social Background of the Reform
1. Prior Reform Efforts
2. General Crisis of Governance
3. Transformation of Japanese Society
4. Key Players
V. Reshaping the Legal Profession
1. The Scarcity of Attorneys
2. A Reform Package
3. Reform of Legal Education
VI. Introduction of the Graduate School of Law
1. Japanese-Style Law School
2. The New System of Recruiting and Educating Lawyers
3. Opening of New Law Schools
VII. Other Major Reforms
1. Reform of the Judiciary
2. Lay Participants (saiban-in) in Criminal Trial
3. The Japan Legal Assistance Center