Introduction of A Citizen Judgement System

In summer, I went to Yokohama District Court to attend the orientation of a new Citizen Judgement System and to watch a real trial, because I had to write a report for my Jurisprudence class.

I watched the case where the defendant was tried for violation of narcotic law.

He bought drugs from foreign dealers and used them for two years. He got guilty and was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison with 3 years suspension of sentence.

After the trial, three judges and we participants started the discussion over the new Citizen Judgement System and the trial we watched. Two of the participants asked the judges the following questions:

Q1) What is the background that Japan decided to introduce the new system?

A1) It is to follow the system of other democratic countries.

Q2) Does the fact that the defendant had some criminal records affect judgement on the verdict?

A2) No, it doesn't because it's been more than twenty years since he got guilty for the last case and it can be dangerous if he is tried with a prejudice that a person who has a criminal record must commit a crime again. In addition, we find that this case and the last one are different from each other, so we should try him for a new case this time.

When I went to the court, I found that most of the participants were housewives or pensioners. Therefore, I doubt that busy businessmen can contribute to the new system. If I were chosen as a citizen judge, I would provably accept the offer, anyway.