Miscellaneous

Inside Japan's Juvenile Court

By Anne Skove, Esq.

In Japan, criminal cases are open to the public but other cases -- juvenile, divorce, probate -- are not. These cases are all part of family court. The theory is that confidentiality allows for more uninhibited discussion among participants.

This is similar to our theory of confidentiality in mediation. Our theory of confidentiality in juvenile court exists to "protect juveniles from stigmatization for the rest of their lives for acts committed while they were children." (Source: Confidentiality, NCJFCJ.)

The exception to the confidentiality rule was a mock juvenile hearing, which took place as part of Law Day.

The mock trial and surrounding hoopla brought interesting Japanese court statistics to light:

• In 2007, family courts handled 194,650 juvenile cases


• 32.8% of juvenile offenses involve theft


• 20.5% were traffic cases


• 16.8% of the cases were for death or injury involving vehicles


• 0.6% were for "serious" crimes

Japanese Law Day starts October 1 and lasts a week. According to one report, the observance began in 1960, and "commemorates the day the Jury Law went into effect in 1928. Japan had the jury system for 15 years before it was halted in 1943 during World War II. In 1960, the Cabinet designated that the week be used to promote the importance of the law, although October 1 is not recognized as a notional holiday."

And, for anyone who hasn't been paying attention, jury trials will return to Japan soon -- stay tuned!

See Juvenile Court Opens Up for a Day, Setsuko Kamiya, Japan Times (October 10, 2008).

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on October 09, 2008 (boomark / email).