Japanese Legal System and the Rule of Law

This assignment discusses the fundamental characteristics of the Japanese legal system, including the parliamentary structure, sources of law, and court structure. It also assesses the strength of the rule of law in Japan and the need for legal system reform.

Running head: JAPANESE LEGAL SYSTEM AND THE RULE OF LAW
Japanese Legal System and the Rule of Law
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note

1JAPANESE LEGAL SYSTEM AND THE RULE OF LAW
Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................2
1. Discussion – Understanding the Fundamental Characteristics of the Japanese Legal System 2
1.1. Parliament.........................................................................................................................3
1.2. Sources of law:..................................................................................................................4
1.3. Court Structure:.................................................................................................................4
2. Assessing the Strength of Rule of Law in Japan......................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

2JAPANESE LEGAL SYSTEM AND THE RULE OF LAW
Introduction:
The present assignment focuses on business law in respect of international context. In
order to do business successfully internationally, exposure to various legal systems of different
countries across the world is necessary (Funatsu, 2015). Every country has legal structure
different from that of Australia. The parliamentary system, the sources of law and the court
structure also varies with countries. The concept of rule of law enunciates that everyone is equal
before law. But all countries may not have concept of it. It changes with countries too (Gillespie
2017). This assessment throws light mainly on the legal system of Japan and also analyzes the
strength of rule of law in it. In the following part of the assignment, Japan’s legal system is
thoroughly discussed. With the help of this assessment it can be known whether it is viable to do
business in Japan.
1. Discussion – Understanding the Fundamental Characteristics of the
Japanese Legal System
In the forgoing paragraphs of the assignment, the legal system prevailing in Japan in the
light of parliamentary structure, sources of law and the court structure of the country will be
elaborated.
The politics of Japan are carried in a structure of multi- party bicameral parliamentary
representative democratic constitutional monarchy where the ceremonial head is the Emperor
and the Prime Minister is the head of the government and the head of the cabinet, which controls
the executive system of the country (Haddad, 2016). The legislative power lies in the National
Diet, the formal name of the Parliament of the country. It comprises of the House of

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Representatives and House of Councillors. The members of both the Houses are elected by the
parallel voting system. Besides passing legislations, it also selects the Prime Minister. The
Parliament was introduced for the first time as the Imperial Diet in 1889 after the adoption of
Meiji Constitution (Itoh, 2016). The Parliament got its present form in 1947after adopting of the
constitution post war. Diet is the highest organ of the state power and the only law making power
of the State. It is located in the National Diet Building in Nagatacho, Chiyoda, Tokyo (Itoh &
Beer, 2017).
1.1. Parliament:
Previously, the Parliament chose its members from the Imperial family, other nobles,
people who paid high taxes and others appointed by the Emperor. The Emperor was at the
supreme position in the Parliament. However, in the new form of Diet, the Emperor lost his
powers and became just a symbol, making Diet the highest organ of the country (Jayasuriya,
2017). The powers of Diet, conjointly enjoyed and exercised by the two houses, comprises of
enacting the laws, taking decisions about the budget and other matters like finances, decisions
regarding approval of the conclusion of any international treaties and the designation of the
Prime Minister. The House of the Representative has 475 members, of which 295 members are
chosen from single-seat districts and 180 from multi-seat districts (Kingston, 2019). The upper
house or the House of the Councilors consists of 242 members, of which 142 are voted directly
into office from their local districts and 96 of them are preferred from political parties. The term
of the members of the House of Representatives is four years unless dissolved and that of the
members of House of Councilors is six years, with half of the members are elected for every
three years. The house of Representatives has the strongest power to push the bills into law. Even
if the House of the Councilor does not approve the bill, the House of the Representatives can re-

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vote and enact the bill with two-third votes. Each of the Houses has 17 standing committees
(Merryman & Perez-Pedormo, 2015).
1.2. Sources of law:
As said above, the National Diet is the sole law making organ of the State. Japan is
basically a civil law country. Its law is based on codified laws following 19th century model of
European legal system, influenced by the legal structures of Germany and France mainly. Unlike
the Anglo-American system, statute law has the main role in the Japanese system. (Oppler,
2015). The main statutes which form the legal framework are called as codes. There are mainly
six Codes which are the Constitution, the Civil Code, the Criminal Code, the Commercial Code,
the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Code of Civil Procedure. The present legal system of
Japan is the amalgamation of continental and American law. The main sources of law in Japan
are Constitution, Treating and International Agreements, Customs, Cabinet Orders, Ministry
Ordinances and Ministry Notifications. Judicial decisions are compiled and codified. The
decisions of the higher courts are binding on lower courts. Japan established its legal system
when the imperial rule was restored in Japan in 1868 as the part of Meiji Restoration (Gillespie,
2017).
1.3. Court Structure:
The fundamental principle of judicial system of Japan is that all the judges are
independent to each other in the exercise of the conscience and the Constitution and the Laws
only control them. The judicial system was restricted in the Meiji Constitution than in the present
scenario (Tsang, 2019). The Japanese court structure is mainly consist of five types of courts;
the Supreme Court, the High Courts, the District Courts, Family Courts and Summary Courts.
The District Courts are those that deal with matters pertaining to general jurisdiction only.

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District courts handle civil, administrative and criminal law cases in first instance. The Family
Courts in Japan on the other hand are very specialized courts that are concerned with juvenile
delinquency cases and familial matters only (Vanoverbeke, 2015). The family courts as well as
the branch offices of such family courts are set up in the exact same places where the main office
and branch offices of the district courts of Japan happen to be located. Additionally there are
many as seventy seven offices of the Japanese family courts that are set up in localized spaces
and where cases are handled or overseen by an individual judge (Oppler, 2015). The Summary
courts are the courts of the lowest order. They mainly deal with civil cases of values not more
than 900,000 yen. The cases in summary courts are those that are handled by single summary
court judges. Litigants in such summary courts do not have to necessarily be handled by legal
professionals who are very qualified, unless of course the litigant is a person who has committed
a criminal offense. Representation on the part of non-lawyers is something that was strictly
prohibited in the Japanese summary courts until only very recently (Jayasuriya, 2017).
Summary courts, family courts and district courts in Japan are not only responsible for
adjudicating cases but also engage in the provision of legal mediation services (Gillespie, 2017).
The mediation procedure is one that involves the role of a mediation committee that comprises
one or two judges and several mediators that are recruited from among the citizen base of Japan
and who usually have profound knowledge and the expertise that is required in order to carry out
the process of mediation between two or more parties. The mediation process is general is
usually commenced when a request for this is placed by a particular party and it is never
obligatory in character. With regard to certain cases that involve the settlement of family
disputes however, parties need to request for mediation that is provided by family courts first,

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prior to bringing in a lawsuit. The proportion of mediation cases that are annexed by Japanese
courts is seen to have increased a great deal since the decade of the 1990’s (Wang, 2015).
2. Assessing the Strength of Rule of Law in Japan
Japan is a country where rule of law is seen to play quite a limited role. Apart from the fact
that the courts in the country are hardly ever utilized for the purpose of resolving private
disputes, the judiciary in Japan is also reluctant for the most part to go ahead and exercise the
powers that it has been constitutionally vested with in order to revoke decisions that are taken on
the part of other varied branches of the Japanese government (Haddad, 2016). The statutes that
are enacted on the part of the National Diet are seldom ever regarded as unconstitutional and the
legal cases where decisions are taken by the executive branches of the government are rarely
ever nullified. Decisions that are politically important are more often than not entirely exempted
from the scrutiny of the judiciary as a result of which the Japanese judiciary has been regarded as
non-existent for the most part of the country’s history (Oppler, 2015). More generally however,
the law is seen to be playing a far more visible role than it did before with regard to the socio-
economic and political ordering of the country of Japan in recent times. Globalization of
Japanese society and economy has weakened greatly the influence of cultural traditions on the
workings of the judiciary (Kingston, 2019). Accelerating de-regulation has made management of
disputes on the part of the bureaucracy quite hard to maintain and there is an increasing pressure
on the country from the rest of the world to make the legal system of Japan one that meets
international standards. Certain Japanese corporations and the main peak associations of such
corporations are in fact demanding the birth of a legal system that is more usable, for protecting
as well as developing new business and for acquiring an edge over competitors who are not as

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legally sophisticated as they are. Citizens groups in Japan have been advocating for such a
change too (Tsang, 2019).
Conclusion
Thus, while the Japanese legal system is quite traditional, organized and well formed in
character, the rule of the law in the country is quite weak and orthodox for the most part. Efforts
need to be made to reform the legal system of Japan and make it more aligned with global legal
principles and standards, in order to make such a system more conducive for the growth and
development of business enterprise in the country.

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References
Funatsu, K. (2015). Trends in European corporate group law systems and the future of Japan’s
corporate law system. Public Policy Review, 11(3), 475-483
Gillespie, J. (2017). Transplanting Commercial Law Reform: developing a'rule of law'in
Vietnam. Routledge
Haddad, M. A. (2016). Going to Court to Change Japan: Social Movements and the Law in
Contemporary Japan ed. by Patricia G. Steinhoff. The Journal of Japanese Studies, 42(2),
343-346
Itoh, H. (2016). The Supreme Court and benign elite democracy in Japan. Routledge.
Itoh, H., & Beer, L. W. (2017). The constitutional case law of Japan: Selected Supreme Court
decisions, 1961-70. University of Washington Press
Jayasuriya, K. (2017). The rule of law and capitalism in East Asia 1. In Singapore (pp. 113-134).
Routledge
Kingston, J. (Ed.). (2019). Critical issues in contemporary Japan. Routledge
Merryman, J. H., & Pérez-Perdomo, R. (2018). The civil law tradition: an introduction to the
legal systems of Europe and Latin America. Stanford University Press
Oppler, A. C. (2015). Legal reform in occupied Japan: A participant looks back (Vol. 1388).
Princeton University Press.

9JAPANESE LEGAL SYSTEM AND THE RULE OF LAW
Tsang, K. F. (2019). Bilateral Treaty on Mutual Enforcement of Judgments between Japan and
China: A Discussion on Legal Structure. Hitotsubashi Journal of Law and Politics, 47,
31-43
Vanoverbeke, D. (2015). Juries in the Japanese legal system: The continuing struggle for citizen
participation and democracy. Routledge
Wang, T. S. (2015). Legal reform in Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule, 1895-1945: the
Reception of Western Law. University of Washington Press