Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

Medical malpractice lawyers in Chicago and across the country have been fighting special interest groups in Illinois and throughout the United States that want to replace our jury system with a panel of supposed experts to decide medical malpractice cases. Now after 63 years the Japanese are realizing the importance of the system which has made this the greatest democracy the world has ever known. Robert E. Precht of the New York Times writes:

"Japan is about to embark on a democratic experiment with important consequences for the rest of Asia. After a lapse of 60 years, the country is planning to bring back a jury system - but a huge effort will be required to convince ordinary Japanese about its advantages. Americans can help by sharing their jury experiences with the Japanese. Beginning in 2009, Japan will institute a jury system called saiban-in. Juries consisting of three law-trained judges and six citizens chosen by lottery will decide criminal cases by majority vote. Japan had an American-style jury system for 15 years, but it was abolished by Japan's military government in 1943. Since then, verdicts have been decided by three-judge panels, leaving citizens with no voice in a system in which virtually all criminal trials end in a conviction. The return to citizen participation represents a bold commitment to have ordinary Japanese take greater responsibility in running the country. If a jury is sufficiently unhappy with the government's case or the government's conduct, it can simply refuse to convict. This possibility puts powerful pressure on the state to behave properly and ultimately leads to better governance. For this reason, a jury is one of the most important protections of a democracy."

Robert E. Precht, New York Times, 12/1/06
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/01/opinion/01precht.html