Legalprofessions
a reputation for being traditionally presented in lectures on the classic six codes rather than more dynamic modes of instruction covering emerging areas of the law. As this education did little to prepare a student for the extremely competiÂtive Bar Examination (Bar Exam), nearly all successful candidates also prepared specificallyfor the exambyattending private exam preparation schools.
This eduÂcation was said to be focused solely on exam skills and a narrow understanding of only the law necessary to pass the exam.In light of the criticism of the traditional education preparation, the Legal Reform Council proposed and the Diet enacted a revised legal education system for lawyers from 2004.[384] Under the new system, all students must complete an undergraduate education and a professional graduate education in so-called law schools (houka daigakuin) before they sit the Bar Exam and continue on to the Legal Training and Research Institute. If a student pursued a law degree as an undergraduate, the professional graduate school runs for two years and if he or she majored in another subject, the professional graduate school runs for three years. After completing the professional graduate school, each candidate is limited to three attempts to pass the Bar Exam. The exam has been changed to include elective essays on a wide variety of legal subjects beyond the six major codes such as labour law, insolvency, intellectual property, and international law. In light of the more limited spaces available at the professional law schools (numbering around 70) and the increase in the number of people allowed to pass the Bar Exam (discussed below), currently the Bar success rate under the new system is estimated to be 20-30 per cent.
As evident from the above discussion, the key gatekeeper to the Japanese legal profession has been the government-administered Bar Exam (shihou shiken).[385] The reform to increase the number of people passing the exam is the second major institutional change for the legal profession in Japan.
Between 1962 and 1990 only 500 people a year passed this examination, which stood as the entrance test for the government-run Legal Training and Research Institute. This was increased in steps to 1000 per year by 1999. While it has fluctuated slightly, this has resulted in a pass rate of around 3 per cent for most of the postwar period.[386] Subsequently, many have only passed the exam after many attempts, making for an inefficient use of human resources at the societal level. Moreover, the low pass rate has resulted in a relatively small cohort of private lawyers in comparison to Japan's general population. Presently there are roughly 29 000 private lawyers in Japan for a population of roughly 128 million. Moreover, the private lawyers disproportionately concentrate in the Tokyo and Osaka metropolis areas. These trends have combined to give rise to access to justice concerns particularly in rural areas. In response to these critiques, the Legal System Reform Council recommended in 1999 tripling the number of people passing the Bar Exam to 3000 per year by 2010. This cap has been under question recently as current lawyers argue the market cannot absorb the increase. Nevertheless, 2009 saw 2043 successful candidates, which represents a more than twofold increase in less than 10 years.[387]All private lawyers are required to be a member of a local Bar Association (BengoshiKai) and the BarAssociations are federated in the Japanese Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) (Nichibenren, or Nihon Bengoshi Rengo Kai). As a legal institution, the JFBA is particularly dedicated to independence and law reform.[388] There is a deep pro bono culture within the private Bar and many of the significant legal reform movements have been led by volunteer lawyers.[389] One of the concerns with increasing the number of private lawyers is that this reform ethos will be undermined as lawyers are required to dedicate more attention to remaining profitable.
In 2009 there were roughly 29 000 Bengoshi lawyers,[390] 3500 judges[391] and 2500 prosecutors,[392] resulting in a â€?unified Bar' of roughly 35 000 lawyers for a population of roughly 128 million. Contrasted with other countries, particularly the United States, this ratio of lawyers to public may appear low. This, howÂever, fails to appreciate the variety of other professions performing legal roles in Japan that in other countries might be captured by the description of â€?lawyer’. For example, Japan separately defines tax attorneys (zeirishi), patent attorneys (benrishi), certified accountants (kounin kaikeishi), judicial scriveners (shihou shoshi), administrative scriveners Cgyouseishoshi), notary publics (koushounin) and legal academics (hougaku kyouju), as well as in-house counsel, service comÂpanies, labour advisers and foreign lawyers. Taking into account each of these professions, most of which have restrictive entry examinations and professional organisation requirements, the lawyer to public ratio appears more consistent with other countries.
6