ABSTRACT

In Japan, the quasi-legal profession of judicial scriveners (shihō-shoshi) traditionally prepared documents for litigants to file with courts but did not have the right to represent them in courts. As part of the justice system reform, from April 2003, shihō-shoshi who took an induction course, passed a certification examination and obtained the Justice Minister’s certification are permitted to represent litigants in Summary Court civil lawsuits. Such work used to be monopolised by the full-fledged legal profession of bengoshi. The reform aimed at enhancing the public’s accessibility to legal service. However, has the change really achieved this objective? Has the objective been attained by another change under the reform: a substantial expansion of the bengoshi population? To examine the justifiability and value of the expansion of shihō-shoshi’s permitted scope of practice, this paper empirically investigates the post-reform situation of the two professions, Summary Court civil litigation, and legal representation in such lawsuits.

摘要

在日本，司法书士 ( shihō-shoshi )的准法律职业传统上为诉讼当事人准备文件以向法院提交，但无权在法庭上代表他们。作为司法体制改革的一部分，自 2003 年 4 月起，通过入职培训、通过认证考试并获得法务大臣认证的志保商事可以在简易法院民事诉讼中代表诉讼当事人。这样的工作曾经被成熟的本市法律界垄断。改革旨在提高公众获得法律服务的机会。然而，这种改变真的达到了这个目的吗？改革下的另一个变化是否达到了目标：大幅扩大本市人口？为检验扩大师范律师执业范围的合理性和价值，本文实证考察了简易法院民事诉讼和此类诉讼中的法律代理这两个职业改革后的情况。