NCJ Number
72487
Date Published
1979
Length
13 pages
Annotation
While the Japanese legal profession has directed most of its concern toward the improvement of the quality of legal services rather than the equitable distribution of those services rather than the equitable distribution of those services, legal aid representation has been achieved in many respects.
Abstract
In criminal process, the right to assigned counsel has been established, and public methods involve assigning counsel. However, in civil litigation, the legal right to counsel is still in a formative stage, and the indigent must surmount cost barriers, such as the expense of a lawyer's services and miscellaneous expenses incidental to litigation. Nevertheless, the Japan Legal Aid Association provides financial aid to litigants, with a strenuous screening process involving tests of the merits of a case with regard to justice and the law and tests of the applicant's means. While only 40 percent of the applications for legal aid are accepted, many applicants receive and are satisfied with the legal advice given during the interview and often withdraw their application as a result, so that only about 10 percent of the cases are actually rejected by the screening. When a legal aid case ends, the client is requested, unless excused, to repay in lump sum or by installments all or part of the money. The Association's cases are limited to civil cases, generally including tort and divorce cases, and the assisted clients are generally plaintiffs. The association uses the judiciare system, so that most lawyers are participating in legal aid activities. In the future, a mixed system, combining the broad support of private attorneys with the strength of specialized staff attorneys with the strength of specialized staff attorneys, would be desirable. As people in remote areas often have difficulty finding an attorney, the Association has also launched a free legal advice system of traveling lawyers, with 708 voluntary lawyers participating in 1975 and about 230 locations being contacted. Voluntary contributions, voluntary lawyer services, and government financing help to make legal aid possible, and the fund-raising efforts of the Association itself are helping to make the legal aid system self-supporting. What is still needed is the continual expansion of the services to reach total representation of and by all people. Tables are included.