2007年VOA标准英语-Japan Gears Up for New Jury System

By Yuriko Nagano
Tokyo
17 May 2007

Japan is less than two years away from making a fundamental change in its legal system, by allowing jury trials.  Under the new system, average citizens will work alongside judges to issue verdicts in many criminal cases. As Yuriko Nagano reports from Tokyo, the greatest hurdle¹ to the experiment is expected to be persuading Japanese citizens to participate.

In Japan, as in most Asian countries, judges alone make decisions in trials. But starting in 2009, juries will be participating in Japanese courts, under what is called a "saibanin" system.

The new system has not yet been confirmed. At first, it will be tested for three years. And it will be limited in scope. Juries will only be used in certain criminal cases, involving serious crimes such as murder.

Robert Precht, a U.S. defense² lawyer and legal scholar at the University of Montana, is helping³ Japanese judges, prosecutors⁴, defense lawyers and citizens to implement⁵ the change. He spoke⁶ to journalists in Tokyo on Thursday.

"The saibanin system and these other reforms are intended to transform Japanese citizens from viewing themselves as governed objects into governing objects," Precht says.

For each trial, there will be a panel of three judges and six jurors, who will be citizens selected at random⁷.

The jury panel will sit in the same room with the judges to deliberate on the evidence and reach a verdict.  If the verdict is guilty, the jurors will also vote on the sentence, and their votes will be equal to those of the judges.

The aim, Precht says, is to bring more transparency to the legal process.

Japan is already testing a pre-trial system, which determines which evidence can be admitted in a trial.  The new system was used in the highly publicized recent trial of Horie Takafumi, former chief executive officer of the Internet company Livedoor. Judges issued a conviction in Takafumi's stock manipulation trial in about a year.

Typically, Japanese trials can take years. Experts hope the new reforms will speed them up.

Another change to the system will have witnesses take the stand in trials, where attorneys can question them in front of the jury. Currently, all testimony⁸ is written, and then given to the judges.

Japan did use a jury system between 1928 and 1943, but switched to the judges-only process after that. 

The greatest hurdle, experts say, will be persuading jurors to express their opinions, and even argue with judges.  In Japanese culture, ordinary citizens are generally reluctant to directly question or challenge professionals, such as judges or doctors.

1 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

5 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

8 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。