Although this was decided back in May 2004, I hadn’t heard of it until now. Starting in 2009, Japan will change criminal court proceedings to a jury system–or, more accurately, a joint-judge-and-jury system.

I remember having trouble explaining juries to my students, as Japan has not practiced that system much since WWII. In Japan, court cases are usually decided by a panel of three judges–but public trust in that system is marred by police and prosecutorial misconduct, shown up over the past few decades by exoneration of many who were convicted under false confessions.

Back in the 80’s, when Japan was the meteoric star of the world and America was trying to emulate it, a lot of attention was paid to the criminal justice system. Politicians from the U.S. would visit Japan to study how the police and courts worked. Japan, after all, had a superb record of catching criminals and successfully prosecuting them. Japan’s arrest rate used to be as high as 70% (higher for serious crimes), and the conviction rate has been as high as a ridiculous 99.97%.

Part of the arrest rate comes from the fact that the police have been known to select which cases to even report–many foreign residents in Japan tell stories of police refusing to allow victims to file official complaints for crimes ranging from robbery to rape, instead told by police that it’s unlikely the perpetrator could be found, so don’t bother. Another aspect of the high arrest rate comes from rather strong police powers–one can be held by the police for up to 23 days without charges being filed, bail, or even an attorney, and false confessions are said to be numerous.

The high conviction rate stems, so it is said, from both prosecutors being highly selective about which cases to prosecute, and from the fact that judges tend to treat indictments by prosecutors with great respect, treating them almost as the equivalent of an assuredness of guilt. One case of a British national convicted on drug charges pointed out that the judge who presided over the case had not given a single “not guilty” ruling in at least ten years.

Apparently, the new jury system is a reaction to these problems, as well as a reaction to the fact that Japan’s crime rate has risen dramatically since the early 90’s, when the economic bubble burst.

The new system, explained in almost child-accessible terms here (pdf file) by the Ministry of Justice, will not exactly do away with the current 3-judge panel; instead, six layman jurors will be added to the mix, sitting alongside the professional judges. A majority will decide the case, presumably a 5-4 majority of judges and jurors. Defendants will not have a choice between the new and old systems–only the new system will be available, for most crimes that is.

I became aware of this news by reading in Crisscross News (a English-language Japan news-and-discussion site, which I will not link to as these links die very quickly) story that reported the results of a survey on jury duty. Apparently, about 60% of Japanese people are not at all pleased with the idea that they might be pressed into service, with 33% being strongly against the idea. This is actually an improvement–a year ago, 70% said they didn’t want to become jurors. Most said that it would be too difficult to judge, or that they didn’t want to have that responsibility. The new system will allow for people to duck jury duty, though it’s not clear what will be accepted as a reason for doing so. Jurors will also be paid, but it is not decided how much. I can’t find anything any sequestering or other details either.

Another problem Japan faces is the low number of lawyers; passing the bar in Japan is very difficult, with only 3% of applicants successfully doing so. This is in sharp contrast with the U.S., where there are far too many lawyers. Sadly, language difficulties rule out any hope of an export deal…