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A new saiban-in (lay judge) system began in May 2009, under which citizen judges selected from the public participate in criminal trials. It is hoped that this will help the public develop both a deeper understanding of trials at large and greater trust in justice as something more involving than before.
The Japanese Constitution, which went into effect on May 3, 1947, is based on three core principles: sovereignty of the people, respect for fundamental human rights and pacifism. To control governmental power effectively through checks and balances, governmental power is separated into three independent branches: legislative, executive and judicial, and each contains a separate set of agencies and personnel.
The Diet is the highest organ of state power, and is the sole law-making organ of the State.
The Diet consists of the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. Both Houses consist of elected members, representative of all the people.
The most important responsibility of the Diet is to establish and enact legislation. The Diet also has the authority to fulfill a number of additional functions, including the deliberation and passage of the budget and other matters of fiscal importance, the ratification of treaties and conventions, the designation of the Prime Minister and the initiation of motions to amend the Constitution. Each House may conduct investigations relating to the government, and demand the presence and testimony of witnesses, and the production of records. For the Diet to pass a resolution, the agreement of both Houses of the Diet is necessary. However, when the two Houses differ in their resolutions regarding legislative bills, draft budgets, treaties or the designation of the Prime Minister, under the terms of the Constitution, decision of the House of Representatives overrides that of the House of Councillors.
The term of office for Diet members is set by the Constitution. Members of the House of Representatives serve a four-year term, while members of the House of Councillors, six years. Elections for the latter are held every three years, so that one half of the seats are fought for in each election.
The House of Representatives has 480 members. Of these, 300 are elected under a single-representative constituency system, while 180 are elected under a proportional representation system in which the nation is divided into 11 regions. The last general election was held in September 2005. The House of Councillors has 242 members, of whom 96 are elected through proportional representation, and 146 are elected as representatives from the nation's 47 electoral districts, i.e. prefectures. The last regular election was held in July 2007.
All Japanese citizens, both men and women, aged 20 years or older, have the right to vote in elections for both Houses of the Diet. Furthermore, both men and women above the qualifying age are eligible to run in elections. The qualifying age for members of the House of Representatives is 25 years or older, while the qualifying age for members of the House of Councillors is 30 years or older.
The Cabinet exercises its executive power on the basis of the laws and budgets adopted by the Diet. The Cabinet is composed of the Prime Minister and other Ministers of State, who are jointly responsible to the Diet, regarding the exercise of the executive power. The Prime Minister is elected in the Diet from among its members. The majority of the ministers of state to be appointed by the Prime Minister must be Diet members. Thus, Japan adopts the parliamentary Cabinet system, in which the organization and existence of the Cabinet rest on the confidence in the Diet.
The Cabinet's powers include the following: (i) implementing laws; (ii) engaging in foreign diplomacy; (iii) signing treaties; (iv) overseeing the operational affairs of public officers; (v) formulating a budget and submitting it to the Diet; (vi) enacting Cabinet orders; and (vii) deciding amnesty. In addition, the Cabinet powers also include naming the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and appointing other judges. The Cabinet also gives advice and approval to the Emperor in matters of state, and bears the responsibility for this.
Judicial power resides in the courts and is independent from the executive branch and the legislative branch.
The Constitution provides for the establishment of the Supreme Court as the highest court with final judgment, while the Court Organization Law provides for four lower-level courts (High Court, District Court, Family Court and Summary Court). At present, there are eight High Courts, 50 District Courts, 50 Family Courts and 438 Summary Courts throughout the nation.
To ensure fair judgments, the Japanese judicial system allows a case to be heard and ruled on up to three times in principle, should any litigant involved in the case so desire. The first courts in the court hierarchy are the District Courts, the second being the High Courts and the highest court being the Supreme Court. The Summary Courts and Family Courts handle simple cases and cases involving juveniles as first instances.
The Supreme Court has the authority to deliver the final judgment on the legitimacy of any law, ordinance, regulation, or disposition. It is chaired by the Chief Justice and 14 judges.
A new saiban-in (lay judge) system began in May 2009. This is a system under which citizens participate in criminal trials as judges to determine, together with professional judges, whether the defendant is guilty or not and, if found guilty, what sentence should apply. What is hoped for is that the public's participation in criminal trials will make citizens feel more involved in the justice process and make the trials easier to understand, thus leading to the public's greater trust in the justice system.
The affairs of local governments are conducted on two levels in Japan: by the prefectures and by the municipalities within each prefecture. As of June 1, 2009, Japan has 47 prefectures, within which there are 1,775 municipalities, plus the 23 wards (ku) in metropolitan Tokyo. In order to strengthen the administrative foundation of the municipalities, municipal mergers were promoted by law. As a result, the number of municipalities was reduced to 1,775 in June 2009, from 3,232 at the end of March 1999.
Municipalities that satisfy certain population criteria (i.e., 500,000 people or more) are eligible for designation as "Cabinet-Order designated cities." This designation gives them administrative and fiscal authority equivalent to those of prefectures. With the addition of five cities (Shizuoka-shi in April 2005, Sakai-shi in April 2006, Niigata-shi, Hamamatsu-shi both in April 2007, and Okayama-shi in April 2009), there are presently 18 cities that have earned this designation. (See Administrative Map of Japan.)
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