Presiding judge's control of court proceedings regarding persons'use of language in courts in Japan

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25380050
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Public law
• Research Institution: Nagoya Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: Enosawa Yukihiro 名古屋学院大学, 現代社会学部, 准教授 (80536277)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 法廷通訳 / 方言使用 / 手話使用 / 訴訟指揮権 / 当事者の言語使用 / 裁判員制度 / 外国語使用

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research aims to identify the extent to which courts permit use of other languages/dialects in Japan. Large volumes of documents were collected from local bar associations and libraries, and analyzed. A number of court hearings were attended in areas, including Sapporo, Akita, Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kanazawa, Osaka, Okayama, Hiroshima, Matsue, Takamatsu, Fukuoka, Miyazaki and Naha.
In some legal cases, judges prohibited the use of other languages, including sign language interpretation in their courtrooms. However, this research found that overall, courts typically permitted parties to use their language, such as foreign language, dialect and sign language. This research identified a trend of improvement in courtroom communication practices. Courts now use short questions and plain language more, and rephrase difficult words, as needed. This improvement is attributed to implementation of Saiban-in (citizen judge) system and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities.

Free Research Field

法学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

従来、法学分野においてあまり検討がなされてこなかったと思われる、裁判当事者が法廷で自らが望む言語を使用すること、そして、通訳を付ける必要がある場合に裁判当事者につけること、聴覚障害者の傍聴人が手話を通じて裁判傍聴すること、これらの三点が各裁判所でどこまで実現できているのか、現場調査を中心に具体例の収拾を行った。調査時期が裁判員制度実施以後であったこともあり、各裁判所で程度の差こそあれ、当事者が裁判所内で言語コミュニケーションを図りやすくするための工夫事例が数多く把握できた。このことは、国民が裁判当事者になった場合、以前よりも自身の主張を自己の言葉で伝えることが可能になったことも現している。