What does the structure of the Council look like?
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The first Council meeting in July elected both a chair and an acting
chair. The chairman is Kouji Sato and the acting chairman is Morio
Takeshita. Council members total thirteen. (See Chart 1).
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The chairman elected, Mr. Sato, is a well-known constitution law expert
from Kyoto University, isn't he?
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He was the one who strongly advocated the need for judicial reform
at the Administrative Reform conference, emphasizing the importance of "the
rule of law" and "a society where independent individuals have a
fundamental sense of right and responsibility as the basis for the rule of
the law."
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The establishment law stipulates in its Section 4, the "council members are
appointed by the Cabinet and consented to by both Houses." In reality,
how were the members selected?
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It is my understanding that the Cabinet, recognizing the nature of
the task vested to this Council, to reconstruct the judicial system of our
country, appointed qualified individuals in the interest of the people of
Japan who are to be the users of the new system.
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It seems like the membership is not limited to legal professionals.
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Well, Messrs. Kouhei Nakabo, Kouzou Fujita, and Hiroshi Mizuhara
are from the judicial community, while Messieurs Sato, Takeshita, and
Masahito Inoue are from the legal academic community, making almost a half
of the membership legal professionals, whereas the rest consist of non legal
professionals.
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Traditionally, the judicial system has been a matter to be discussed by
attorneys, judges and prosecutors - legal professionals alone.
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The Council is expected to deliberate judicial reform from the
users' viewpoint. An exclusive body of judicial professionals does not
represent the people, whose interests should be kept uppermost.
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