A Future Prospect of Criminal Justice Policy for Sex Crimes in Japan- the Roles of the Lay Judge System There

Abstract

The lay judge system in Japan—now 8 years old—has produced various changes in the criminal justice system. One of the strongest and clearest impacts of the lay judge system has been seen in sex crime cases. Unlike the jury system in the USA, lay judges decide not only verdict but also sentencing, and the sentences in sex crime cases have been increasing. It seems that there has been a great “gap” between what lay people think is the proper sentence for sex offenders and the opinions of professional judges. In this chapter, I will discuss how and why this “gap” has been seen especially in sex crime cases. Also, there are new issues for victims of sex crime as they now have to be faced with lay judges who might be their neighbors. I am going to discuss what roles lay judge trials will play to improve (or endanger) various supports for victims of sex crime at trial stage.And I will also discuss the possible impacts of the Lay Judge System on the Penal Code reform regarding sex crime. The goal of this paper is to find out how the Lay Judge System has changed and will change the criminal justice policy for sex crime in Japan.