Lay and Expert Contributions to Japanese Criminal Justice

Lay and Expert Contributions to Japanese Criminal Justice PDF

Author: Erik Herber

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-02-18

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1351602330

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This book examines the little or not previously researched roles and contributions of non-legal professionals in Japanese criminal justice against the background of recent social and legal changes that either gave birth to or affected the roles played by these "outsiders". On the basis of a wealth of primary and secondary sources, including meeting records of policy makers and practitioners, surveys, interviews and court verdicts, the book zooms in on forensic psychiatrists’ role in the disappearance of criminally insane defendants from Japanese criminal courts; social workers’ new role in diverting a growing number of elderly, mentally disturbed repeat offenders from prison; the therapeutic dimension added to Japanese criminal justice proceedings with the introduction of a system of victim participation as well as the increasingly important role of forensic scientists’ contributions, notably DNA evidence, in Japanese courts. Finally, it examines lay judges’ contributions to sentencing practices as well as how these lay judges make sense of the other outsiders’ contributions. On the basis of very recent social and legal developments the book provides an original contribution to understandings of Japanese criminal justice, as well as more general socio-legal debates on the role of extra-legal knowledge in criminal justice. The book will be of value within BA and MA level courses on and to students and researchers of Japanese law and society as well as comparative criminal justice and socio-legal theory.

Japanese Society and Lay Participation in Criminal Justice

Japanese Society and Lay Participation in Criminal Justice PDF

Author: Masahiro Fujita

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-07-04

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 9811003386

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This book describes the state of the lay participation system in criminal justice, saiban-in seido, in Japanese society. Starting with descriptions of the outlines of lay participation in the Japanese criminal justice system, the book deals with the questions of what the lay participants think about the system after their participation, how the general public evaluate the system, whether the introduction of lay participation has promoted trust in the justice system in Japan, and the foci of Japanese society’s interest in the lay participation system. To answer these questions, the author utilizes data obtained from social surveys of actual participants and of the general public. The book also explores the results of quantitative text analyses of newspaper articles. With those data, the author describes how Japanese society evaluates the implementation of the system and discusses whether the system promotes democratic values in Japan.

Popular Participation in Japanese Criminal Justice

Popular Participation in Japanese Criminal Justice PDF

Author: Andrew Watson

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-10-26

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 3319350773

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This book analyses the mixed courts of professional and lay judges in the Japanese criminal justice system. It takes a particular focus on the highly public start of the mixed court, the saiban-in system, and the jury system between 1928-1943. This was the first time Japanese citizens participated as decision makers in criminal law. The book assesses reasons for the jury system's failure, and its suspension in 1943, as well as the renewed interest in popular involvement in criminal justice at the end of the twentieth century. Popular Participation in Japanese Criminal Justice proceeds by explaining the process by which lay participation in criminal trials left the periphery to become an important national matter at the turn of the century. It shows that rather than an Anglo-American jury model, outline recommendations made by the Japanese Judicial Reform Council were for a mixed court of judges and laypersons to try serious cases. Concerns about the lay judge/saiban-in system are raised, as well as explanations for why it is flourishing in contemporary society despite the failure of the jury system during the period 1928-1943. The book presents the wider significance of Japanese mixed courts in Asia and beyond, and in doing so will be of great interests to scholars of socio-legal studies, criminology and criminal justice.

Japan's Prosecution Review Commission

Japan's Prosecution Review Commission PDF

Author: David T. Johnson

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-01-01

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 3031193733

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This book explains Japan’s unique Prosecution Review Commission (PRC) which is composed of eleven lay people selected randomly from voter registration lists. Each of the country’s 165 PRCs reviews non-charge decisions made by professional prosecutors and determines which cases should be reinvestigated or charged. PRCs also provide prosecutors with general proposals and recommendations for improving their policies and practices. The book analyzes the history and operations of the PRC and uses statistics and case studies to examine its various impacts, from legitimation and shadow effects to kickbacks and mandatory prosecution. More broadly, this book explores a problem that is common in many criminal justice systems: how to hold prosecutors accountable for their non-charge decisions. It discusses the potential these panels have for improving the quality of criminal justice in Japan and other countries, and it will appeal to scholars and students studying prosecution and democracy, criminal justice, criminology, lay participation, justice reform, and Japanese studies.

The Culture of Capital Punishment in Japan

The Culture of Capital Punishment in Japan PDF

Author: David T. Johnson

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2019-11-18

Total Pages: 139

ISBN-13: 3030320863

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This open access book provides a comparative perspective on capital punishment in Japan and the United States. Alongside the US, Japan is one of only a few developed democracies in the world which retains capital punishment and continues to carry out executions on a regular basis. There are some similarities between the two systems of capital punishment but there are also many striking differences. These include differences in capital jurisprudence, execution method, the nature and extent of secrecy surrounding death penalty deliberations and executions, institutional capacities to prevent and discover wrongful convictions, orientations to lay participation and to victim participation, and orientations to “democracy” and governance. Johnson also explores several fundamental issues about the ultimate criminal penalty, such as the proper role of citizen preferences in governing a system of punishment and the relevance of the feelings of victims and survivors.

World Criminal Justice Systems

World Criminal Justice Systems PDF

Author: Richard J. Terrill

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-10-30

Total Pages: 1002

ISBN-13: 1000956229

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The revised tenth edition of this core textbook provides an understanding of major world criminal justice systems by discussing and comparing the systems of six of the world’s countries—each representative of a different type of legal system. England, France, Japan, South Africa, Russia, and China are all covered in detail, and an additional chapter on Islamic law uses three example nations to illustrate the range of practice within Sharia. Political, historical, organizational, procedural, and critical issues confronting the justice systems are explained and analyzed. Neatly organized with a parallel structure throughout the text, each chapter contains material on government, police, judiciary, law, corrections, juvenile justice, and other critical issues. A new feature of this text focuses on the nature of the political world order and the significant clash between some democratic and authoritarian governments. Of particular concern are those authoritarian governments that have seen the rise of what has been popularly referred to as the strongman leader. The countries covered in this text have seen the emergence of four such strongmen. While the rise of each occurred in different contexts, they were each facilitated in significant ways by the manner in which they asserted their control over the country’s criminal justice system. This book is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students in criminal justice, prelaw, and similar programs. Supplementary materials for instructors include test bank and lecture slides.

Unity Is Our Strength

Unity Is Our Strength PDF

Author: Dr Enock Alcine

Publisher: Dorrance Publishing

Published: 2023-08-28

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13:

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"Haitians in the diaspora, those in the homeland, families, and friends are called to bring your talents, knowledge, and finances; to form a coalition and arrest poverty that is lamenting the lives of so many of our Brothers and Sisters in Haiti. • Everyone is precious • Everyone has a purpose • Everyone is a piece of the puzzle Kind Regards, Your Brother”

Who Rules Japan?

Who Rules Japan? PDF

Author: Leon Wolff

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2015-04-30

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 1784717495

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The dramatic growth of the Japanese economy in the postwar period, and its meltdown in the 1990s, has attracted sustained interest in the power dynamics underlying the management of Japanês administrative state. Scholars and commentators have long deba

Juries in the Japanese Legal System

Juries in the Japanese Legal System PDF

Author: Dimitri Vanoverbeke

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-08-23

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9781138554092

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Trial by jury is not a fundamental part of the Japanese legal system, but there has been a recent important move towards this with the introduction in 2009 of the lay assessor system whereby lay people sit with judges in criminal trials. This book considers the debates in Japan which surround this development. It examines the political and socio-legal contexts, contrasting the view that the participation of ordinary citizens in criminal trials is an important manifestation of democracy, with the view that Japan as a society where authority is highly venerated is not natural territory for a system where lay people are likely to express views at odds with expert judges. It discusses Japan�s earlier experiments with jury trials in the late 19th Century, the period 1923-43, and up to 1970 in US-controlled Okinawa, compares developing views in Japan on this issue with views in other countries, where dissatisfaction with the jury system is often evident, and concludes by assessing how the new system in Japan is working out and how it is likely to develop.

Confronting Capital Punishment in Asia

Confronting Capital Punishment in Asia PDF

Author: Roger Hood

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2013-11-07

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 0191509019

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With the strengthening focus worldwide on human rights, there has been a rapid increase in recent years in the number of countries that have completely abolished the death penalty. This is in recognition that it is a violation of the right to life and the right to be free from cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. There has, simultaneously, been pressure on countries that still retain capital punishment to ensure that they at least apply the United Nations minimum human rights safeguards established to protect the rights of those facing the death penalty. This book shows that the majority of Asian countries have been particularly resistant to the abolitionist movement and tardy in accepting their responsibility to uphold the safeguards. The essays contained in this volume provide an in-depth analysis of changes in the scope and application of the death penalty in Asia with a focus on China, India, Japan, and Singapore. They explain the extent to which these nations still fail to accept capital punishment as a human rights issue, identify impediments to reform, and explore the prospects that Asian countries will eventually embrace the goal of worldwide abolition of capital punishment.