A government panel plans to review and revise the system implemented to produce more lawyers, judges and public prosecutors in Japan. The main goal of the panel is to reform the bar exam and new types of law schools that were established in the 2000s.
The Justice Ministry, the education ministry, the Supreme Court and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations will take part in the review process. Reform will begin within two years. It is hoped that the government will come up with a realistic plan for helping to improve the quality of legal services for people.
On the basis of a recommendation made by the Justice System Reform Council in June 2001, 74 new law schools opened from April 2004 to April 2005, and a new bar exam began being used in May 2006 to test the graduates of these law schools.