Abstract
The Japanese judicial reform movements in the 90s have been advocated and discussed not only by lawyers but by the variety of social actors including politicians, journalists, entrepreneurs and citizen groups. The reform targets are also almost all-embracing. Recruitment of legal professions, judicial budget, quality of court services, civil and criminal procedures, the styles of court decision and legal codes, to mention a few. And the actors' political stances are not so clear-cut as they used to be. Influential business leaders strongly point out the defects in the present judicial system while Japan Federation of Bar Association has been divided on how to evaluate and respond to the reform movements.
And there is strong concern that introduction of deregulation policy into judiciary may cause serious damage on its functions. On the other hand, the basic authoritarian character of the system seems little affected despite criticisms.
The complicated and multifaceted nature of the movements itself proves the need for academic examinations. This mini-symposium has been held under such perspectives with a prominent practicing lawyer and a well-known judge, who both are playing leading roles in the reform movements, as guest panelists together with two socio-legal academics.
