The Japanese Legal System

Japan's legal system has entered its second decade since the adoption of the Justice System Reform Council Report in 2001, and its third decade of what have been called the Heisei reforms, after the current Imperial reign. This period has seen what must be characterized as steady restructuring of legal institutions, with the intention of producing a more responsive legal system. The most dramatic changes-those to legal education, to civil procedure, and to the criminal trial process with the introduction of the jury system-have now had several years to operate. Yet it is becoming clear that in numerous other areas of law there have been substantive changes, and that these may have significant consequences for Japanese society in the decades ahead. This volume seeks to provide a snapshot of many of these areas of legal change, and to explore how innovations are operating in practice.