Japan Times : New courtroom for citizen participation shown

At present, courts only rely on panels of three judges.

The new system, expected to start by 2009, would let ordinary citizens be jurors, giving them the right to determine guilt or innocence in serious criminal cases.
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The changes would help shorten trials, whose sessions are only held about once a month and can plod on for years, Karei said.

Human rights groups say they hope the reforms will also bring fairness and more transparency to the justice system.

They have criticized police and prosecutors for interrogating suspects without defense lawyers present.

That's a concern because verdicts often hinge on a suspect's written confession, and 99 percent of criminal cases brought to trial end with a conviction, said Kenta Yamada, a lawyer and director at the Japan Civil Liberties Union.
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Japan's system will differ from other countries' systems.

Japanese jurors will participate in trials of serious crimes, including murder, arson, child abuse and hit-and-runs. They will sit alongside judges at a semicircular bench at the front of the courtroom, and will vote together with judges on verdicts and sentencing. Decisions will be reached by a majority.

By contrast, in the United States and Britain, jurors can take part in either civil or criminal cases and usually sit at the side of the courtroom, away from the judge. Their job is to determine guilt or innocence in both types of trials, but they also decide on damages in civil cases.
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"I can't help but think that letting ordinary people step in and decide the fate of trials will let criminals get off with light punishments," said Sato, 40, who runs a construction business. "Officials say juries will mean shorter trials. But it sounds to me like judges will shorten trials to let jurors get back to their lives -- not do what's right for victims and their families."
Do you think that the introduction of jurors is a good thing or a bad thing for the Japanese judicial system ?

It is a fact that the judicial system needs reforms (especially because 99% of cases brought to trial end with a conviction, which is not normal). However, I have reserves regarding the critical sense of the average Japanese, and it could very well be, as Mr Sato said in the article, that criminals will get away with lighter punishments or be found innocent when they are guilty, because the jurors will not want to condemn someone if they have any doubts.