CASE MANAGEMENT FOR THE COURT ORAL PROCEEDINGS

1. Summary of Case Classification and Proceedings Operation

The presiding judge shall decide on the case classification and the method of handling cases depending on whether the pleadings from the defendant have been submitted as well as the contents of the pleadings.

In principle, a case with disputed issues should be brought to preparatory pleadings where the disputed issues and facts will be sorted out.^[55] The written argument proceeding precedes^[56] this, and if necessary, the presiding judge may open a court date for preparatory pleadings (pre-trial hearings).^[57] It is possible for the court to directly designate a date for an oral argument in trial. However, the �New model’ suggests that the court should designate a prepara­tory hearing date in principle.^[58]

From the standpoint of case management, a summary on strengthening the oral proceedings is as follows.

2. Written Argument Proceedings

According to the �New model,’ given two written argument (pleadings) proceedings, the parties have the opportunity to supplement written arguments for their assertions, contentions, and evidence.

To cope with these problems, it is necessary to adjust the time restriction of written argument proceedings depending on the parties’ preparation and the nature of the case. The presiding judge has discretion to set a date for pre-trial hearing with no more written argument proceedings if he concludes that writ­ten pleadings already provide sufficient detail, describing the facts in issue and assertions so that no raising of additional contentions or factual issues is necessary.

3. Sufficient Time-Allocation for Oral Argument Proceedings

In order to promote oral argument proceedings, sufficient time should be reserved for each case. The �New model’ does not suggest a standard time­limit, leaving the courts and divisions of courts to exercise discretion in allo­cating appropriate time for oral argument proceedings.

Strengthening oral proceedings has great influence on judges’ working patterns. Judges are supposed to spend more time in the open courtroom or in the pre-trial hearing room for handling cases than in their chambers reviewing the court documents or writing opinions. This shows that stress­ing the oral proceeding is directly related to the increase in the amount of time spent in the open courtroom proceeding, from once a week to more than twice a week.

Stressing oral proceedings also requires the scheduling of court dates in different times for individual cases, since reserving sufficient time is crucial for oral proceedings. That is, each case needs its own scheduled court hours, which the judges are required to arrange reasonably. It requires sensible esti­mates of the hours that will be spent on each case in order to allocate enough time for oral proceedings without congestion.

4. Instruction of Oral Proceedings

Until oral proceedings take deep root in our litigation practice, courts need to emphasize the underlying intent of introducing oral proceeding to the parties, for them to prepare their case in advance before the notified court date. The notice should include explanation of the detailed procedures of oral proceed­ings. It should be differentiated depending on whether the hearing being held is a pre-trial hearing date or an oral argument date in trial process. In some cases, the court may serve a court order for the list of preparation items via phone call or e-mail.

V.