Local News

Criminal courts throughout Kyushu are examining ways to accelerate the pace of trials in advance of the introduction of the lay judge system in May 2009. The objective is to reduce the trial’s impact on the regular employment of the lay judges. They also hope to lessen the psychological burden on them as well. This is particularly important for Kyushu, which has many outlying islands and remote residential areas, forcing people to come from greater distances for trials.