An overhaul of the judicial system to recruit lawyers to become judges is long overdue. There is a desperate need to increase the number of judiciary members who can breathe new life into the nation’s courts.

Twenty years have passed since the system was put in place to appoint more lawyers to the bench. This was done to increase the number of judges with broad professional experience. As of last December, however, former lawyers constituted only 60, or 2.2 percent, of all the sitting judges in Japan.

Under the current Japanese career judge system, legal apprentices generally become assistant judges after completing their training courses and become full-fledged judges 10 years later.

Although apprentices have opportunities for temporary assignments to government agencies and other organizations, their professional experiences are limited in scope. Experts have long pointed out that this system tends to make the judiciary a predominantly homogeneous group of people mostly shielded from outside influences.

The court law envisages diversified talent, including lawyers and prosecutors, in addition to associate judges, as potential candidates for judges. Many other countries adopt a unified system of legal professions, under which legally qualified individuals first gain experience as lawyers, undergoing societal immersion before being selected as judges. Japan, in short, needs more lawyer-turned-judges.

In 2001, the government’s Judicial System Reform Council issued a report that recommended increasing the number of lawyers who ascend to the bench. In line with the council’s recommendation, a system was established whereby the Japan Federation of Bar Associations recommends candidates for judges. After a review by an advisory panel, the Supreme Court makes the nominations.

Eight lawyers were appointed judges under the system in 2004. However, the figure dropped to below four in the past 10 years. Last year, no such appointment was made as few lawyers sought to become judges.

This year’s outlook appears to be slightly more promising, with one appointment in April and three more expected in October. Still, the system continues to falter.

Many lawyers are not hooked on the prospect of pursuing a career as a judge, even though the job is an integral part of the legal profession. For lawyers, abandoning the solid financial foundation they developed by working as legal counsels to plunge into the world of official duties, with possible relocations, can be a daunting prospect.

The Supreme Court and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations should work together to propose measures to improve the system in line with the ideal of a trusted judiciary.

One factor behind the general reluctance of lawyers to become judges is the short period between nominations and actual appointments. This makes it difficult for lawyers to hand over cases and clients to their successors. A more flexible approach to the transition period would help.

Another idea worth considering would be to appoint newly coined judges to courts to which they can commute from their homes. Of course, there would be times throughout their careers when they are transferred to courts in various parts of the nation.

Of all the lawyers the federation recommends to become judges, only just over 50 percent are appointed. This highlights the disparity in appointment standards between the federation and the Supreme Court.

The top court should be more explicit about the experiences and achievements required for lawyers to ascend to the bench.

It needs to take a more proactive approach to convey that becoming a judge is a good way for lawyers to capitalize on their experience.

For its part, the federation should do more to provide information and support to interested lawyers. If a clear vision of long-term career development, including appointments as judges, is offered, applications will probably increase.

There have already been cases where lawyer-turned-judges have assumed important posts, like presiding judges at district courts and judges supervising collegial units at high courts. Another way to benefit from the system is to listen to the views and opinions of those who join the judiciary mid-career about the court and share their perceived challenges.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 30