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Lay Participation in Japanese Criminal Justice: Prosecution Review Commissions, the Lay-Judge System, and Penal Institution Visiting Committees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2020

Stacey STEELE ,
Carol LAWSON ,
Mari HIRAYAMA  and
David T. JOHNSON
Stacey STEELE
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
Carol LAWSON
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales & Australian National University College of Law
Mari HIRAYAMA
Affiliation:
Hakuoh University
David T. JOHNSON
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii at Manoa
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Abstract

This article highlights reliance on lay participation as a mechanism for solving perceived problems in Japanese criminal justice by examining three reforms aimed at increasing lay participation in Japanese criminal justice: the mandatory prosecution power given to Prosecution Review Commissions, the saiban’in seido (lay-judge system), and Penal Institution Visiting Committees. The article argues that lay participation plays an important role in legitimizing aspects of the current system. Despite the Nagoya Prison Scandal in 2002–03, Japan’s extraordinary achievements in order inside prisons have been maintained and citizens are comforted that the system has oversight by Visiting Committees. Although PRCs and saiban’in seido represent a more open approach to eligibility and selection than Visiting Committees, they too help to legitimize existing structures. The article concludes by considering challenges to the continued reliance on lay participation in Japan including reform fatigue, the demographic crisis, the impact of geography, and technological developments.

Keywords

Japancriminal justicelay participationProsecution Review Commissionssaiban’in seidolay-judge systemPenal Institution Visiting Committees
Type
Research Article
Information
Asian Journal of Law and Society , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , February 2020 , pp. 159 - 189
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and KoGuan Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

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Footnotes

•

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of a Melbourne Law School–Asia Research Collaboration Grant ("Death Penalty, Prosecution and Detention in Japan") for the workshop and related research assistance that led to this article. Ms Lawson’s contribution was also supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship and Endeavour Research Fellowship. We thank our research assistants, Kaori Kano and Subin Cho, of the Asian Law Centre, Melbourne Law School. This article reflects the authors’ personal opinions. Statements do not represent the views or policies of employers, past or present, or any other organization with which any author is affiliated.

*

Associate Director (Japan), Asian Law Centre and Associate Professor at Melbourne Law School, the University of Melbourne.

**

Associate Lecturer, University of New South Wales Centre for Law, Markets and Regulation; PhD Candidate, Australian National University (ANU) College of Law.

***

Professor of Law at Hakuoh University.

****

Professor of Sociology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

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