Challenges faced in a lay judge trial have come to light. The latest case should be closely examined to reduce the burden on lay judges.
The ruling, which was delivered at the Himeji branch of the Kobe District Court, was the longest to be reached of any lay judge trial so far.
The trial spanned 207 days from the first hearing to the final ruling with a record total of 70 hearings held. The case exceeded by far the previous longest lay judge trial that took 160 days, with 42 hearings, for the ruling to be delivered. The burden on the lay judges must have been significant.
The male defendant, alleged to have been involved with the deaths of three people, was accused of a total of 11 crimes, including two cases of murder as well as unlawful capture and confinement resulting in the death of another person. While prosecutors had demanded the death penalty for the defendant, the court acquitted him of one of the murder counts and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Two of the dead are yet to be found, and the defendant denied 10 of the 11 counts. The number of witness appearances exceeded 120, while hearings were held as frequently as four times a week during the busiest periods.
Was he guilty or not guilty? Should he have received the death penalty or life imprisonment? Lay judges were pressed to make a serious judgment. Examining closely a large amount of evidence and testimony and assessing his culpability by discerning the facts must have been a series of challenging experiences for the lay judges.
Was the court hearing plan appropriate? By hearing how the lay judges felt about the frequency of hearings and cross-examinations of witnesses, as well as the way breaks were taken, for instance, the judicial authorities are urged to have its findings be reflected in future trials which deal with difficult cases.
Professional judges key
Next year marks 10 years since the introduction of the lay judge system, trials of which have increasingly spanned long periods of time. In the early days of the system, trials took an average of 3.7 days, but it extended to an average of 10.6 days last year. This is believed to partly stem from an increase in the number of cases in which defendants deny the charges.
A rise in the proportion of people who refused to serve as lay judges has become particularly serious -- it stands at 67 percent across the country.
For the trial in question, it was 84 percent. After the first hearing, three out of the six lay judges changed.
It is necessary to flexibly approve refusals, but if the refusal ratio is excessively high, there is a risk of the system becoming biased toward those who have time to spare. This could harm the objectives of the system of having diverse opinions reflected in trials.
Many people who have refused to serve have cited work as the reason. Cooperation from companies and others is vital.
In order to make scrupulous hearings and speedy progress compatible, the ability of professional judges to have control over the trial proceedings will also be tested further. When a defendant has been indicted for more than one case, partial trial-judgment, in which lay judges will be chosen for each case, is an option for alleviating the burden.
The lay judge law stipulates that if a trial continues for an excessively long period of time, the case can be examined by professional judges only.
Considering the fundamentals of judicial system reforms, that is to have the public participate in the judicial process, extreme prudence is required when deciding whether to rule out a lay judge trial. But, in such a case when the length of a trial exceeds the latest case, avoiding a lay judge trial could be considered.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 13, 2018)
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