Deliberative Democracy and the Japanese Saiban in (Lay Judge) Trial System
Abstract Since May 2009, public participation in the criminal justice system, known as saiban in seido (trial system by lay judges) has been implemented in Japan. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the law making process of the saiban in system and present an evaluation of the system from the perspective of deliberative democracy. This paper concludes that, contrary to criticism from those who want to introduce a purer form of jury trial dominated by lay jurors, the current saiban in system, which mixes three professional judges with six saiban ins, should be viewed positively from the perspective of deliberative democracy.
Asian Journal of Law and Society