Japan Jury Verse American Jury

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Dionne Goodman Criminal Evidence 1001 Prof. Shani Curry January 21, 2012 The evolution of jury systems in the United States and Japan has proceeded very differently, and a thoughtful comparison of the two systems requires understanding differences in the structures and history of Japan jury system as compared to the American jury. The jury system in Japan and describes its key procedural elements based on the Act Concerning Participation of Lay Assessors in criminal trial , which was adopted on May 28, 2004. It then provided a brief overview of the history of the American jury system, highlighting the event that have embedded the institution as one of the foundational principles of the American Political and judicial tradition. In 1923 Japan passed a law providing for right to jury trial in criminal cases. Although the Japanese system was influenced by the Anglo-American model of jury trial, it differed in important particulars. The jury did not return a general verdict, but instead responded to judicial questions by returning special verdicts finding particular facts. Moreover, these verdicts , which could be returned by a majority of the jurors, were not binding. If the judge did not like the facts found he could empanel successive juries to hear the case de voo until one found those facts that would allow the judge to hold as he thought best on the question of guilt or innocence. The American jury is a sudden controversial resurgence of laymen participation in the Japanese judiciary represents a stark contrast to the American experience. In contrast to the sudden resurgence of the jury trial I Japan as mechanism of modern judicial reform, jury trials as a means of checking the power of the state elite and giving community voice of the judicial process were firmly established by the time of the founding of the United States. This has affected the nature of

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