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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sara Musfeldt
Marketing Communications Manager
Phone: 877.648.2632; Fax: 720.890.7069
E-mail: smusfeldt@nita.org
Japanese Jury System Revolutionized, Dependant on U.S. Experience
With changing legal landscape, Japan turns to Colorado-based NITA
Louisville, Colorado (March 6, 2008)—Japan is about to embark on a major transformation in the way justice is arrived at in the courtroom. To aid in the success of this drastic shift, the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) has been called upon to provide its signature learning-by-doing legal skills training and materials to over 25 Japanese law schools and hundreds of Japanese attorneys. Similar to arrangements in other countries around the globe, NITA is the sole international advocacy organization assisting the Japanese bar with this transition.
Currently the Japanese judicial system involves attorneys providing written arguments to a three-judge panel that makes the final ruling without hearing from the accused, victims, witnesses, or attorneys associated with the case. The new Japanese jury system, called “saiban-in,” will mimic the U.S. judicial system by requiring a jury to hear oral arguments from an attorney and then rule on the case. In addition to the changes in the jury system, attorneys are now required to achieve a graduate-level law school education when just six years ago there were only undergraduate law schools in place.
On February 9, representatives from NITA and PSIM Consortium—a panel of Japanese law school professors, deans, and representatives from over twenty-five Japanese law schools— signed the Academic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement in Nagoya, Japan. The goal of the agreement is for NITA to provide its learning-by-doing style training to law school professors and also provide translated NITA publications. Both of these contributions will help develop a law school curriculum focused on oral advocacy, presentation skills, case strategy and management.
The next training for Japanese law professors will take place at the March 28 Advocacy Teacher Training program in Boston, Mass.
“The role of standard [Japanese legal] education in enhancing practical skills is considered from multidimensional perspectives,” said Ikuo Sugawara, PSIM Consortium Representative and Law Professor at Nagoya University. “We chose NITA as a partner because it has many high quality materials for professional skills training and also a developed, sophisticated teaching methodology.”
In addition to NITA’s work with the PSIM Consortium, trainings and communications are underway with the Japanese Federation of Bar Associations and the Japan Law Foundation as well. Law students and practicing attorneys will both benefit from the NITA learning-by-doing methods.
“Over the last 20 years, since NITA’s venture in South Africa began, our teaching method has been utilized in programs for lawyers throughout the world,” said Laurence M. Rose, NITA’s President/CEO. “We are frequently asked for the use of our materials, and the loan of our teachers, in countries from Azerbaijan to Zambia. The PSIM Consortium relationship extends that cooperation to teach law students in Japan, which will lead to better-qualified Japanese bar admittees and an increased knowledge of advocacy skills in presentations to the new Japanese saiban-in jury system.”
With the birth of law schools and a revised approach to the National Bar Exam, Japan will benefit from its NITA relationships because of the experience and support the 37-year-old organization has to offer.
"The Japanese lawyers, judges and law school faculty are concerned that their law training is too theoretical, and not practical enough,” said Terre Rushton, NITA liaison for the PSIM Consortium. “They can produce brilliant students who literally do not know how to begin to try a case. This is why NITA started. They can learn from us and our experiences."
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About NITA
The National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) is the nation’s leading provider of legal advocacy skills training. A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization based in Louisville, Colorado, NITA pioneered the legal skills learning-by-doing methodology over thirty-five years ago and has since remained the ultimate standard in continuing legal education. With an average student/faculty ratio of 4:1 and an all-volunteer faculty drawn from a cadre of judges, law professors, and practicing attorneys, NITA’s multi-day “boot camps” deliver unparalleled professional development for nearly 6,000 attorneys each year. As a public service organization, NITA provides, at little or no cost, the same high-caliber training we provide to the nation’s largest firms to legal service attorneys, public defenders, and attorneys who have chosen to work in child advocacy, tribal law, death penalty defense, immigration, domestic violence, and other vital areas of public interest. NITA is also the nation’s third largest publisher of legal publications. NITA’s references, texts, case files, and audio-visual materials are used by thousands of attorneys and are incorporated into the curriculum at over 85 percent of the nation’s law schools. For more information, visit www.nita.org.
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