弁護士会の意思形成過程における弁護士の社会的態度について

大阪弁護士会における調査から

抄録

This essay intends to explain lawyer's social attitudes toward bar politics in Japan. A typology of lawyers, in terms of their personalities, such as one who values protecting human rights over profiting and vice versa, does not explain changing attitudes toward bar politics. Based on a survey of lawyers in Osaka, I have come to the conclsion that lawyers have at least two types of attitudes: one oriented to adopt a realistic approach, and one based on individual moral principles. Ordinary lawyers tend to adjust their attitude with changes in their environment.
Those who take the latter attitude have more resources at hand in which their opinions and beliefs carry. the day in a bar association than ones who take former attitude. Often they tend to take the latter attitude when they feel there is an urgent need to keep good relations with the government. As a result, a bar association tends to be on a cooperative basis with the government contrary to the traditional image of organisations standing in opposition to the government. This model also differs from the traditional mode of bar associations, which assumes bar associatons are eager to protect human rights against the government under any conditions. I will present a hypothesis that they yet need to adopt anti-governmental positions for several reasons such as the need to increase the number of corporate lawyers, the expansion of out-of-court mediation, the presence of cooperation with the Ministry of Justice concerning the issue of foreign lawyers, and so on.