What does Japan's justice minister, Kunio Hatoyama think of the looming introduction of citizens' juries, also known as the lay-judge system — which is potentially the most revolutionary change set to affect Japan's trial system since World War II?
Not much, if comments made in a Tokyo magazine last October are anything to go by. In an interview in Weekly Asahi he called the jury system "an imitation of foreign countries," and added, "I believe it is being enacted in Japan because it is being done overseas. I think it will be great if the system works well, and that it should be re-evaluated."
Interviewer: So try it, and if it fails, then quit?