Lay Participation in Sex Crime Trials in Japan

• In Event: Sex Offenders and the Courts

Abstract

The Lay Judge system, the Japanese version of the Jury System, which was introduced May 2009 can be a vehicle to proceed to achieve democracy in the Japanese Criminal Justice System, the system which had not changed for a long time. On the other hand, the Victim Participation System, began December 2008, was emerged through a very different political discourse, which may lead to the privatization of the criminal justice system. There are many discussions going on how the Lay Judge System has been impacting the Criminal Procedure in Japan. One of the greatest interests is, how the criminal sentencing has been changing. In most cases, criminal sentencing have not changes much, however, the great change can be found in sex crime cases. This paper will examine why and how there have been gap between sentencing for sex crime cases tried by bench trials and lay judge trials. I will also discuss the possible impacts of "victim input" in these lay judge trials. And finally, I am going to discuss how to make the Lay Judge trials as the enlightenment settings for creating more inclusive criminal justice policy for sex crime in the future.

Author

• Mari Hirayama, Hakuoh University