White Paper on Attorneys 2023

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Please see the Japanese version of the 2023 edition of the White Paper for a special feature titled "The Current Situation and Future Prospects of School Attorneys"

Special Feature: Making Interrogations Transparent – Current State & Challenges

Part 1. Statistics Regarding the Legal Profession

Chapter 1. Attorney Demographics...2

1.1	The Japan Federation of Bar Associations and the Attorney Population	.	2
1.2	Attorney Population by Age Group	.	4
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Chapter 2. Legal Profession Demographics...5

2.1	Number of Law School Applicants and Enrollment	.	5
2.2	Statistics for Successful Examinees in Bar Examination	.	6
2.2.1 Pass Rate of Bar Examination	.	6
2.2.2 Demographics of the Preliminary Examination for the Bar Examination	.	9
2.3	Number of Apprentices Who Completed Legal Apprenticeship Training by Career Path	.	10
2.4	Change in the Number of Judges, Prosecutors, and Attorneys over Time	.	12
2.5	Gender Ratio of Law School Students, Bar Examination, Preliminary Bar Examination, and Those Who Completed Legal Apprenticeship Training	.	13
2.6	Number of Attorneys in Japan Compared to Other Countries	.	16
2.7	Change in Other Legal Profession Populations over Time	.	18

Chapter 3. Mergers of Law Firms and Statistics of Legal Professional Corporations...19

3.1	Law Firm Size	.	19
3.2	Legal Professional Corporation Statistics	.	21
3.2.1 Number of Legal Professional Corporations	.	21
3.2.2 Size of Legal Professional Corporations	.	22

Chapter 4. Facts about Registered Foreign Lawyers (Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi)

...24

4.1	Change in the Number of Registered Foreign Lawyers over Time	.	24
4.2	Registration of Registered Foreign Lawyers	.	25
4.3	Status of Alliances in the Form of Foreign Law Joint Enterprises	.	26
4.4	Incorporations of Registered Foreign Lawyer Corporations (Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi Hojin)	.	28
4.5	Employment Status of Attorneys Hired by Registered Foreign Lawyers or Registered Foreign Lawyer Corporations	.	29
4.6	Number of Foreign Lawyers Employed by Attorneys and LPCs	.	29
4.6.1 By Nationality	.	29
4.6.2 By Jurisdiction Where the Attorney's License was Obtained	.	29

Part 2. Activities of Attorneys

Chapter 1. Criminal Advocacy Activities...32

1.1	Duty Attorney (Toban Bengoshi) and Court-Appointed Defense Counsel Systems for Suspects	.	32
1.1.1 Outline of Duty Attorney (Toban Bengoshi) and Court-Appointed Defense Counsel System for Suspects	.	32
1.1.2 Current Situation of the Duty Attorney (Toban Bengoshi) System	.	33
1.1.3 Changes in the Number of Duty Attorney Requested Cases, Appointed Cases, and Criminal Suspect Defense Aid Cases	.	33
1.1.4 Public Defense System Available Prior to Institution of Prosecution	.	34
1.1.4.1 Operation Status of Court-Appointed Defense Counsel System for Suspects	.	34
1.1.4.2 Permission or Rejection for Detention Requests	.	36
1.2	Status of Defense Attorneys' Involvement in Overall Criminal Cases	.	37
1.2.1 Status of Court-Appointed Defense Counsel Contracts and the Number of Defendants with Court-Appointed Defense Counsel	.	37
1.2.2 Changes in the Percentage of Defendants Retaining Criminal Defense Counsel (after Institution of Prosecution)(Court-Appointed and Privately Retained) at District Courts	.	37
1.2.3 Changes in the Percentage of Defendants Retaining Criminal Defense Counsel (after Institution of Prosecution)(Court-Appointed and Privately Retained) at Summary Courts	.	38
1.2.4 Changes in the Percentage of Defendants Retaining Criminal Defense Counsel(after Institution of Prosecution)(Court-Appointed and Privately Retained) at High Courts	.	39
1.3	Defense Activities in Juvenile Cases	.	40
1.4	The Lay Judge System	.	43
1.4.1 Cases Determined by Lay Judges	.	43
1.4.2 Actual Practice of Lay Judge Trials	.	44
1.4.2.1 Number of Persons Who Have Been Subjected to Saiban-in (Lay Judges) Trials that Have Been Disposed of	.	44
1.4.2.2 Comparison of the Average Period Taken for Court Deliberations and the Average Period of the Pretrial Conference Procedure (by confession and denial), etc.	.	44

Chapter 2. Activities in Civil and Other Lawsuits...47

2.1	Civil Lawsuits	.	47
2.1.1 Attorneys' Involvement in Ordinary Civil Lawsuits at District Courts	.	47
2.1.2 Attorneys' Involvement in Ordinary Civil Lawsuits at Summary Courts	.	48
2.1.3 Changes in the Percentage of Appointed Attorneys in Ordinary Second Instance Trials (at High Courts)	.	49
2.1.4 Labor Tribunal Cases	.	50
(1) Number of Labor Tribunal Cases Newly Accepted by and Concluded at District Courts	.	50
(2) Status of Appointing Agents in Labor Tribunal Proceedings at District Courts	.	51
2.2	Supporting Activities for Criminal Victims	.	52
2.3	JFBA Support Activities for Affected People in Relation to the Great East Japan Earthquake	.	53
2.3.1 Recommendations, etc. the JFBA has Issued in Response to Disasters	.	53

Chapter 3. Expansion of Attorneys' Activities ...56

3.1	Current Situation of In-house Attorneys	.	56
3.1.1 Changes in the Number of In-house Attorneys	.	56
3.1.2 Situation of Public Officers with Fixed Terms	.	57
3.2	Diet Members and Head of Local Governments Registered as Attorneys	.	59

Chapter 4. Recent Situation Facing Attorneys - Results from Attorney Census

4.1	Employment Status of Attorneys	.	60
4.2	Workplace Size	.	63
4.3	Attorneys' Working Hours	.	63
4.4	Breakdown of Working Hours	.	64
4.5	Revenue and Income of Attorneys	.	65
4.6	Change in Revenue and Income over Time	.	67
4.6.1 Revenue and Income (All Respondents)	.	67
4.6.2 Revenue and Income (by Years of Experience and Year in which the Respondent Entered Legal Apprenticeship Training)	.	68
4.7	Attorneys Engaging in Activities other than Those as an Attorney	.	69
4.8	Reasons for Not Engaging in Activities as an Attorney	.	70

Part 3. Activities of the JFBA and Local Bar Associations

Chapter 1. Autonomy of Attorneys...72

1.1	Complaints and Dispute Conciliations	.	72
1.1.1 Complaints against Attorneys	.	72
1.1.2 Dispute Conciliation	.	74
(1) Number of Dispute Conciliation Cases Newly Received	.	74
(2) Handling of Dispute Conciliation Cases (All Bar Associations)	.	74
1.2	Disciplinary System for Attorneys and its Operation	.	75
1.2.1 Summary of the Disciplinary System for Attorneys	.	75
(1) Request for Discipline	.	75
(2) Investigation by Disciplinary Enforcement Committee	.	75
(3) Examination by Disciplinary Actions Committee	.	75
(4) Filing of an Objection, etc.	.	75
(5) Public Notice by the Official Gazette, etc.	.	76
1.2.2 Statistics Regarding Disciplinary Action	.	78
(1) Changes in the Number of Newly Accepted Requests for Disciplinary Action (All Bar Associations)	.	78
(2) Details of Handling of the Requests for Disciplinary Action (All Bar Associations)	.	79
(3) Ratio of Disciplinary Action (All Bar Associations)	.	80
1.2.3 Operation of the Disciplinary System	.	81
(1) Cases Handled by Disciplinary Enforcement Committees of Bar Associations and the JFBA	.	81
(2) Cases Handled by Disciplinary Actions Committees of Bar Associations and the JFBA	.	82
(3) Cases Handled by the JFBA Board of Discipline Review	.	83
1.2.4 The Flow and Current Situation of Disciplinary Procedure	.	84

Chapter 2. The JFBA's Activities involving Human Rights Redress...85

2.1	The Operation of the Human Rights Redress System	.	85
2.1.1 Procedures for Human Rights Redress System	.	85
2.1.2 Number of Human Rights Redress Cases (by Category)	.	87
2.2	Current Situation Regarding Retrial Cases Supported by the JFBA	.	88
2.2.1 Retrial Cases Supported by the JFBA	.	88
2.2.2 Achievement by the JFBA for its Support on Retrial Request Cases	.	88

Chapter 3. International Activities of the JFBA...91

3.1	International Human Rights Activities	.	92
3.1.1 Activities at the United Nations (UN) and International Conferences	.	92
3.1.2 Activities Related to the UN Human Rights Bodies and the UPR	.	93
3.2	International Cooperation	.	95
3.2.1 Past and Current JFBA Assistance Projects for Bar Associations in Developing Countries (by Country)	.	95
3.2.2 JICA Long-Term Experts Achievement	.	97
3.3	International Exchange Activities	.	99
3.3.1 Membership of International Organization	.	99
3.3.2 Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) Signed between the JFBA and Overseas Bar Organizations	.	99
3.3.3 MOUs Signed between Local Bar Associations and Overseas Bar Organizations	.	99
3.4	Overseas Visiting Scholar Program	.	101
3.4.1 JFBA Visiting Scholar Program	.	101
3.4.2 Past Visiting Scholars	.	101
3.5	Support for Career Development in International Public Service	.	102
3.5.1 Implementation of Various Seminars and Events	.	103
3.5.2 Support System for Career Development in International Public Service	.	103
3.5.3 Implementation of Judicial Apprentice Training and Internships at the Offices of International Organizations in Japan	.	104
3.6	Promotion of International Practice by Attorneys	.	104
3.6.1 JFBA' s Activities to Promote International Practice by Attorneys	.	104
3.6.2 Attorney Referral System for Japanese SMEs Going Overseas	.	105

Chapter 4. Other Activities...107

4.1	Legal Expenses Insurance (Right Protection Insurance) System	.	107

Part 4. Comprehensive Legal Support

Chapter 1. Japan Legal Support Center (Ho-terasu)...110

1.1	Main Operations of Ho-terasu	.	110
1.2	Support Operations Entrusted by the JFBA	.	111

White Paper on Attorneys 2023

Contents