Sorimachi:
The new judicial reform council as an arm of the
Cabinet has been established and had already held its first meeting on July
27th. The topics discussed included expansion of the population of legal
professionals, the non career judicial system, the jury system, legal aids
and matters as complied by a number of individuals, headed by Mr. Yasuoka,
along the lines developed in the LDP by the judicial system report. Topics
are varied and very complicated. For example, the legal problems related
to the corporate activities encompass a variety of problems including civil
violence [i.e., intimidation and coercion] I understand there is a two
year timelimit for the deliberations. How do you plant
direct these deliberations?
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Yasuoka:
Civil rights for instance are not fully covered by civil
suits, nor is civil violence. Any unjust, illegal matters entail the
participation of policy makers and prosecutors for a comprehensive
handling. This can be one of the study objectives, as stated in the report.
Yet, the actual study may have to be carried out by another sector. It is my
view that Council is not the instrument to get involved in detailed
discussions of the laws themselves.
Sorimachi:
You mean, the Council is a forum to navigate the
general direction?
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Take commercial law for example. Finding number of
problems, the Council is supposed to point out the need for an expeditious
amendment of a law rather than getting into a complicated debate over the
details of rules and procedures. Comprehensive reform of, for example,
commercial law, may normally take as long as ten or even twenty years, yet
the Council may demonstrate an urgency so as to expedite it within five or
even three years.
At one time, immediately after the war, the National Diet was
able to process over 300 bill per year. By the first year of Heisei (1988),
the number dropped to one hundred. It does somewhat better today, processing
about 150 per year, but this is not fast enough taking into consideration
the speed of societal change these days. It may be necessary to increase the
number of staff involved in legislative tasks as well as initiate some sort
of reform of Diet system itself. Administrative procedures also need to be
upgraded for greater effectiveness. It may be useful to out source,
mobilizing think tanks for drafting bills and making proposals. It is not
necessary that bureaucrats do everything from A to Z.
Sorimachi:
So you mean the Council deals in macroscopic issues
such as concepts, framework, and general order?
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Yasuoka:
Japan is at a turning point, where the most fundamental
basis of judicial reform, its necessity, its concept and its objectives
are some of most urgent assignments to be undertaken, leading toward an
entire new vision. As an individual, I am expecting that the Council will
carry out a comprehensive bird's eye overview within the historical
perspective to sort out these very essential matters for us.
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