The courts exercise judicial power and resolve disputes according to law. The separation of powers is a system that prevents the abuse of power.
Basic Knowledge
Japan’s courts consist of the Supreme Court and lower courts (high courts, district courts, family courts, and summary courts).
Japan adopts a three-tiered court system, in which a person may have a case tried up to three times, ensuring careful judgment.
Types of trials include civil trials (disputes between individuals), criminal trials (trying crimes), and administrative trials (lawsuits against the state or local governments).
Independence of the judiciary: judges exercise their authority independently according to their conscience and are bound only by the Constitution and laws (Article 76, Paragraph 3).
Judicial review (Article 81): the power of courts to examine whether laws, orders, and dispositions violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court is the court of final appeal and the “guardian of the Constitution.”
Lay judge system (began in 2009): citizens deliberate together with judges in serious criminal cases.
Separation of powers (dividing power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches for mutual checks and balances)
Three-tiered court system (a case may be tried up to three times; appeal → final appeal)
Judicial review (the power of courts to examine the constitutionality of laws and other measures)
Supreme Court (court of final appeal, “guardian of the Constitution”)
Lay judge system (citizens participate in serious criminal cases; began in 2009)
National review (a system in which citizens review whether Supreme Court justices should be dismissed)
Further Study (Background and Significance)
Separation of powers was proposed by Montesquieu in The Spirit of the Laws.
・Diet → Cabinet: no-confidence resolutions and designation of the prime minister
・Cabinet → Diet: dissolution of the House of Representatives
・Diet → courts: impeachment trials and participation in designating judges
・Courts → Diet: judicial review
・Cabinet → courts: designation of the chief justice of the Supreme Court and appointment of other judges
・Courts → Cabinet: judicial review and judgments that administrative dispositions are unlawful
・People → Diet: elections; Cabinet: public opinion; courts: national review
In this way, the branches mutually check and balance one another (checks and balances).
- Separation of powers = separation of legislative, executive, and judicial power
- Origin = Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws
- Three-tiered system = appeal (to the second instance) → final appeal (to the third instance)
- Judicial review = Article 81; the Supreme Court is the court of final appeal
- “Guardian of the Constitution” = Supreme Court
- Lay judge system = began in 2009; serious criminal cases; 6 lay judges + 3 professional judges
- National review = citizens review Supreme Court justices
Points to Note (Easily Confused)
① Do not confuse the order of an appeal (bringing a case to the second instance) and a final appeal (bringing it to the final instance). ② Judicial review belongs to all courts, but the Supreme Court is the court of final appeal. ③ Do not confuse lay judges (6 citizens and 3 professional judges, criminal cases only) with jurors (the United States system). ④ Distinguish civil (between individuals), criminal (crimes), and administrative (against the state) trials.
Practice
- Who proposed the separation of powers?
- Explain why the Supreme Court is called the “guardian of the Constitution.”
- In what year did the lay judge system begin, and in what kinds of cases is it used?