Abstract
This Paper explores whether or not the Japanese Bar does maintain the integrity as a system. This is one of the pivotal questions for lawyer profession since the integrity constitutes the essential foundation of the self-regulation enjoyed by them. The data set utilized for the analysis is the record of discipline reinforced by the Bar between 1995 and 2014. While previous studies paying attention to the practice of disciplinary system of the Japanese Bar have examined the issue based mainly on the secondary sources summed up by the Bar itself, this paper tries to utilize the data computed by the author himself. The major findings of the investigation can be summarized as follows: (i) the range of career cohort of lawyers disciplined have gradually widened for these 20 years; (ii) cases appealed for the higher instances of the disciplinary machinery has dramatically increased within the period surveyed, and (iii) such appeal cases have become filed by the less-experienced lawyers compared to ten years ago. System-theoretic perspective allows us to interpret this situation as system disintegration, a weakening of the integrity among the Japanese Bar.
https://ror.org/03tgsfw79 
