A government panel on judicial reform plans to urge the government to abolish national bar examinations and introduce new tests for graduates of law schools modeled on those in the U.S. and scheduled to be established in Japan, according to panel members.
The panel's head, Koji Sato, a professor of law at Kyoto University, said the change should be made "as soon as possible," suggesting that U.S.-style law schools open in Japan in 2003 and that new test be conducted two years after that.
The U.S.-style law schools are graduate schools with the exclusive role of educating people to become legal professionals. Currently, people in Japan seeking legal qualifications usually prepare to take bar exams by studying independently or at small cram schools.