Japan has decided to enact a modified jury system in an attempt to modernize its criminal justice system. The idea is to make the system more transparent and increase public participation in it. The lay judge system will go into effect in 2009.

At first, juries will be seated in cases involving murder and other serious crimes. In preparation for the upcoming changes, a wide range of modifications are being pondered, toyed with and fine-tuned.

Mock trials are being held on a regular basis in preparation for the institution of the system next year. The lay judge system will be put into effect in tandem with a new program of allowing victim participation in the criminal court system.

Fashion is being reconsidered as well. While judges will continue to wear their somber black gowns in court, citizens on jury duty will be permitted to wear their own clothes. Defendants are also to be allowed more flexibility in their choice of attire. Per detention center and courthouse rules, they had little choice but to wear nondescript track-suits and sandals in court in the past, but now they will be able to wear more formal outfits including suits and ties. A compromise has been reached on the sandals, required by courthouse protocol to help in preventing easy getaways, and defendants will now be able to wear a mule-type shoe that is open at the back but resembles a formal, close-toed shoe. The reason for this new flexibility is a desire to keep lay judges from prejudging a defendant based on their attire. Whether or not surgical masks, a staple of allergy-season in Japan, will be allowed in court has not fully been decided.

There has even been talk of providing sign language interpreters for the hearing-impaired, and braille transcription of all court documents for the blind, as a way of incorporating a wider swath of society into the lay judge system.

However, while many of the bases are being covered, not everyone is happy with the progress. Voices from several quarters have expressed reservations that everything will be ready by the time the lay judge system goes into effect next year.

A large portion of the nation’s bar associations have reported that finding enough lawyers in time for the inauguration of the lay judge trial system next year could prove difficult. Areas with large cities have, expectedly, not complained that acquiring lawyers would be a problem. Some appear to be worried that an insufficient number of defense lawyers could lead to “rushed, slipshod” trials which might decrease public confidence in the new system.

While it is true that reform, as can be seen in most organizations that undertake it, rarely goes as smoothly as the change-agents had originally envisioned, it is doubtless that the long-term benefits of modernizing Japan’s justice system are not something that this country can afford to wait much longer for.

Forced confessions, just the tip of the iceberg, have recently hit center stage, and a couple of high-profile exonerations of the falsely accused have spurred a feature-length film and a bar association-produced documentary based on a string of forced confessions in Kagoshima prefecture in particular, and the system-wide lack of checks and balances in general.

Judges have been urged to take an active part in guiding prosecution, defense and juries through the growing pains of the impending reform. It is argued that their leadership will be essential if the long-term success of the reforms is to be guaranteed.

However, all that anyone seems to be able to focus on at the moment are the hiccups that are likely to occur during the first several years of implementation.