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Many people are expressing concern about the lay jury system which starts on May 21. What do you think about it?

16 Comments

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Its a scam to give a veneer of civilization to what is basically a feudal justice system.

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The thought of it is pretty scary, they should have left it to professionals.

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The jurors will agree with whatever the oldest and most powerful member of the jury thinks. How many Japanese do you know that can or would speak their mind in a group and go against the opinion of a senior? I hope I never have to face one of the kangaroo courts.

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I agree with Disillusioned completely. The culture clash here will be immense. I seriously doubt many Japanese will be able to cope with it.

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The jurors will agree with whatever the oldest and most powerful member of the jury thinks.

They will agree with the judge. The system proposed is not really a jury but more a lay magistrate type set-up.

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I have just completed 2 weeks of Jury Service in the London Central Criminal Court, also known as the Old Bailey. Although I knew little about the system, it was handled well, if somewhat inefficiently.

I heard that some people can be unlucky and have to work with a group of people they dislike and find hard to get along with. I was lucky, the 12 jurors in my team were all committed to doing the best job we could. Many of us wanted to get back to work and back to our lives, but we all put the case first. Many different points of view came out in our deliberations and we did not reach a unanimous verdict on all charges. I would expect a random sampling of 12 Japanese citizens to also find some conflicts in their points of view. But I am sure they will deal with that if they are given correct direction from the judges.

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It will be fine. The Japan bashers here don't seem to know anything about the character of the Japanese people.

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How many of these posters here have actual first hand experience as a jurist in any court in any country?

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Hang 'em!

There, I'm not eligable for jury duty now, right?

The jury system has it's flaws. Any human institution would. I don't expect it to be any worse in Japan than elsewhere in the world. Best to avoid going to court in any country. Even if you win it's gonna be expensive!

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This idea has produced the ultimate example of the law of unintended consequences. JT reported about five months ago that instead of making an injustice system a little more humane, the presence of ba-ba's and ji-ji's on the bench has hardened hearts. Some prospective servers on these lay juries (they're really lay judges) reported they'd flog people for double parking, letting dogs poop in public without cleaning it up, and for unseemly dress. They'd hang people wholesale, and they'd pretty much outlaw foreigners. Way to go Min of Justice, you've just unleashed Pandora's Box! Call it Nihon-Taliban rule!

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It's a solution in search of a problem.

It also is likely to lead to claims of unfair trials because of artificial time constraints that will be placed on trials in order to avoid forcing lay jurors to spend "too much" time in court. As a result, defense attorneys will not be able to present all of the testimony that they would like to present, and that they would be able to present to the court under the previous system.

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If you thought conviction rates were high under judges, just wait!

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hmm... i wonder if the defendant has to pay lost wages to jurors serving during their noraml work hours

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Trial by jury works fine in small claims, but is a bit of a waste of time for the number of people involved. Large cases shouldn't be left to jurors who are untrained in the law and depend on one or the other lawyer convincing them. I've only been involved in one jury trial in the US. It was a medical trial which half my fellow jurors (and half the witnesses) had trouble understanding what was going on. Despite being reviewed by an actual panel of qualified doctors and denied, they tried to appeal to the ignorant public and convince them.

Trial by jury is not a good system in any case, and I doubt it will work well in Japan due to the previously mentioned culture clash.

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Not so much a case of 12 Angry Men as 12 Apathetic Men.

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Large cases shouldn't be left to jurors who are untrained in the law and depend on one or the other lawyer convincing them.

Agreed, and apparently the US justice system agrees as well. This is why at least 95% of all civil cases result in settlement, not verdict.

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