295,000 citizens get jury call-up notices

Saturday 29th November, 03:47 AM JST

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Goals0 at 04:26 PM JST - 28th November

Check out the movie 'juninin no yasashii nihonjin'. Twelve Kind Japanese It's a parody of 'Twelve Angry Men', and hilarious. It imagines if there was a jury system in Japan.
smartacus at 04:39 PM JST - 28th November

Many readers might not be aware that Japan had the jury system from 1923 until 1943. However, defendants had the right to waive jury trial and often did. So it is not a new concept.
BBLeo at 04:44 PM JST - 28th November

Conghratulations Japan. This is birth of a new justice system to find more innocent suspects guilty.
Rudd at 04:55 PM JST - 28th November

The idea of everyone trying to sense what the judge or the most senior juror is thinking makes for an amusing parody of a typical meeting (where nobody really cares what's going on), but I don't see that actually happening here. Either way it's a huge improvement of the current system.
skyguym42 at 05:42 PM JST - 28th November

Rudd, it will happen here far more than any meeting...you'll have people desperate to get back to their jobs before they're fired and realizing that if they vote against the group (who will include professional judges determined to find everyone guilty) they will be there longer. Japanese people would sell their own parents down the river or throw their children under a bus to avoid conflict or taking an ethical stand.

Add to that the fact that they don't KNOW the person being tried....so being "soto" the defendant is not a person at all, just one of those animated roadblocks they shoved out of the way yesterday at the grocery store. Why not send it to prison? After all it wouldn't have been arrested if it weren't causing trouble. Better to be safe and vote guilty like the judges told us to. Japanese people would sell their own parents down the river or throw their children under a bus to avoid conflict or taking a stand.

So sorry, all these dreams of a massive change in the system are just illusions. The guilty rate will go up to 99.9999999% and the govt will claim it's totally fair because of the lay judges. You'd have a better chance with Judge Dredd. And that's if you're Japanese!
some14some at 07:22 PM JST - 28th November

A big headache for locals, foreigners may discuss the topic freely as they are not going to receive such notices !
Yelnats at 07:29 PM JST - 28th November

And the crowds raw! Do you really think that a Japanese jury will argument amongst themselves and disagree to disagree? I do, especially if it is all women. I got a wife. She loves to disagree. She is Japanese. I am not, but understand perfectly well the mind set of these people. In private with family they will fight like rabid dogs, but in public and within a group they will bend with the flow. As soon as the first person speaks up and says guilty they will all agree, and or visa-versa! Good luck. 99.99% of all guilty until proven innocent will be found guilty as usual. "Round up the usual supsects" "Casablanca"
gogogo at 07:47 PM JST - 28th November

With 51.8% concerned with safety of foreigners I don't think a Jury with a foreigner on trail would be given a fair trial
yasukuni at 08:35 PM JST - 28th November

Judging from the discussions I've had with Japanese on the subject, and the many times I have observed Japanese making decisions in a group, this is going to be very, very interesting. I think there will be some pretty interesting coaching of defendants by the lawyers. Japanese might surprise you though. There will probably be lots of dramas and programs about it on TV and no doubt some people will be excited about it.
yasukuni at 08:38 PM JST - 28th November

"As soon as the first person speaks up and says guilty they will all agree," Yelnats, no no no. It will depend totally on WHO speaks up and how others perceive that person, and how the others perceive that person is perceived by the others....if you know what I mean. That is why it will be interesting to see how this goes.
freakashow at 09:39 PM JST - 28th November

I gotta agree. Jury doesn't work period. Back home, it's the same. Criminal cases are open-shut deals because we just hate to be away from work (the stipend we receive is diddly to the amount we lose away from work). Most of my friends get out of it by either claiming they are related to someone in the police or government, or know of someone who has done time. Civil cases for some reason tend to take a bit longer, but even then, jurors start getting antsy if they last any more than two weeks. Ends up being most people serving on jury duty being the ones either barely making ends meet, or just glad to be in a room that's warmer than it is outside. I know of no one who looks forward to jury duty. Not one.
medievaltimes at 09:44 AM JST - 29th November

The jury system (flaws included), will be much better than the current 99% conviction rate.
gogogo at 01:39 PM JST - 29th November

yasukuni: Yep you are correct, there is always an alphamale in a group of people in this country, they say everyone follows, group consensus.
Scrote at 09:49 PM JST - 29th November

I'll be surprised if any salarymen at all turn up for jury duty as all those guys are permanently "busy". The juries will probably end up dominated by 50-60 year old housewives.
Youdontknow at 10:11 AM JST - 30th November

I wonder how long it will take before someone realises that all gaijin court appearances result in a 100% 'Guilty!' verdict?