To this day, I have no idea how this channel has such a small viewership. This is the most accessible introduction to Japanese functional politics available in English. And in vocal talent good enough that I frequently use this playlist as sleep noise.
Wow, that was amazing information! I had no idea the Cabinet Legislation Bureau had such big power - I had never even heard of it before! I always wondered why the Japanese Supreme Court is never in the news and never seems to make waves, now I got my answer :-)
You two really knocked this one way back and over the fence…. I learned more in 20 mins. about Japan’s judicial system than I could have hoped for. I had never heard of the CLB before but after your explanation of what it is and how it functions in the inscrutable political world of Japan, it really provides someone such as myself with a much better understanding of of how things really work. As always -Thanks!
The Japanese justice system is a bit weird hybrid of Anglo-American and European Continental style of legal system, also as pointed out it take a back seat to state bureaucracy.
The narrative here got a bit forced with the CLB discussion as well as with the buddy buddy environment of the Japan National Legal Institute. First re CLB, US Congress has teams of lawyers at staff and committee level reviewing drafts and adjusting them to make sure the laws do what they are intended, do not have obvious conflicts with other laws on the books, etc. Same thing in the UK and elsewhere. It is not the very necessary technical review of proposed legislation the CLB performs that is an issue it is the jump Michael made that once the CLB does its job and the Diet in fact passes a law the Supreme Court does not feel it has any role to perform to review its constitutionality. That is his opinion and that is fine but not sure I buy that as a general conclusion. I also do not buy this is all about a lack of institutional courage. Perhaps what we have here is a Court made up of "strict constructionists" (i.e. interpreting the law as it was written) and the solution is not issuing each of the 15 justices a shot of courage as much as clarifying in the Japanese Constitution itself exactly what the SC is supposed to do when the ultimate power, the Diet, passes a law they do not think meets constitutional requirements. Second, if everyone who goes to The Japanese "law school" is so great buddies with everyone else then ask yourself why the Japan Bar Association which has well recognised decidedly left lean to it files lawsuits contesting every single election as unconstitutional, and almost every controversial decision the Diet makes in the area of national security, nuclear energy, death sentences, etc. NOT all of the lawyers who go to the training institute are buddies with their professional colleagues and in fact a significant portion are not. How many lawyers are in the Opposition Parties at ALL levels of government from local, regional to National? And in discussing the justice system one should not ignore the District and Appeals Courts which are definitely not the patsies of the Government that is implied here. But having said that I do see a need for Japan to strengthen judicial oversight over the Diet and Cabinet. The JSC does tend to defer to the Diet to a greater extent than I would like to see. Some Japan based law professors I know have suggested that when Japan has its long overdue discussion on constitutional amendments one thing that should be also considered is the implementation of a Japan Constitutional Court along the lines that Germany installed after its post WWII US drafted constitution led to some of the issues noted here.
So the guy on the right is saying Japanese judges tend to overwhelmingly go with precedent, and don't legislate from the bench? This sounds like a good thing.
To this day, I have no idea how this channel has such a small viewership. This is the most accessible introduction to Japanese functional politics available in English. And in vocal talent good enough that I frequently use this playlist as sleep noise.
Now this is the kind of content I love from Langley Esquire. I've seen this episode like 6 times. I like these two hosts and their abundant chemistry.
Wow, that was amazing information! I had no idea the Cabinet Legislation Bureau had such big power - I had never even heard of it before! I always wondered why the Japanese Supreme Court is never in the news and never seems to make waves, now I got my answer :-)
Fredrick Brennan I had never heard of it either, that I can remember. Thanks, Tim and Michael!
We are glad you found it informative, Fredrick !
Great episode! It would be interesting for you to cover the security services and the police in this way as well.
You two really knocked this one way back and over the fence…. I learned more in 20 mins. about Japan’s judicial system than I could have hoped for. I had never heard of the CLB before but after your explanation of what it is and how it functions in the inscrutable political world of Japan, it really provides someone such as myself with a much better understanding of of how things really work.
As always -Thanks!
Thanks Dennis ! That is the goal of this show: to promote a thorough understanding of how Japanese politics actually work.
I've long been looking for a resource like this! Amazing work!
U R right, it is funny why no one ever brought this up. Thanks again.
The Japanese justice system is a bit weird hybrid of Anglo-American and European Continental style of legal system, also as pointed out it take a back seat to state bureaucracy.
Another great video!
Thanks for your kind feedback !
The narrative here got a bit forced with the CLB discussion as well as with the buddy buddy environment of the Japan National Legal Institute.
First re CLB, US Congress has teams of lawyers at staff and committee level reviewing drafts and adjusting them to make sure the laws do what they are intended, do not have obvious conflicts with other laws on the books, etc. Same thing in the UK and elsewhere. It is not the very necessary technical review of proposed legislation the CLB performs that is an issue it is the jump Michael made that once the CLB does its job and the Diet in fact passes a law the Supreme Court does not feel it has any role to perform to review its constitutionality. That is his opinion and that is fine but not sure I buy that as a general conclusion. I also do not buy this is all about a lack of institutional courage. Perhaps what we have here is a Court made up of "strict constructionists" (i.e. interpreting the law as it was written) and the solution is not issuing each of the 15 justices a shot of courage as much as clarifying in the Japanese Constitution itself exactly what the SC is supposed to do when the ultimate power, the Diet, passes a law they do not think meets constitutional requirements.
Second, if everyone who goes to The Japanese "law school" is so great buddies with everyone else then ask yourself why the Japan Bar Association which has well recognised decidedly left lean to it files lawsuits contesting every single election as unconstitutional, and almost every controversial decision the Diet makes in the area of national security, nuclear energy, death sentences, etc. NOT all of the lawyers who go to the training institute are buddies with their professional colleagues and in fact a significant portion are not. How many lawyers are in the Opposition Parties at ALL levels of government from local, regional to National? And in discussing the justice system one should not ignore the District and Appeals Courts which are definitely not the patsies of the Government that is implied here.
But having said that I do see a need for Japan to strengthen judicial oversight over the Diet and Cabinet. The JSC does tend to defer to the Diet to a greater extent than I would like to see. Some Japan based law professors I know have suggested that when Japan has its long overdue discussion on constitutional amendments one thing that should be also considered is the implementation of a Japan Constitutional Court along the lines that Germany installed after its post WWII US drafted constitution led to some of the issues noted here.
interesting analysis!
Very good introduction to Japan's Supreme Court.
Wow fantastic content, will be watching more !
its sometimes interesting to see how liberal the supreme court can be compared to the rest of the government.
True; but let us not forget that the SCJ being more liberal does not make it less conservative than what it already is.
Excellent! Thank you for this. (An important example of Abe's dirty tactics brought out right at the end.)
When a culture has no concept of "justice". That's the kind of danger that could erupt into disasters like The Great Empire of Japan.
So the guy on the right is saying Japanese judges tend to overwhelmingly go with precedent, and don't legislate from the bench? This sounds like a good thing.
How many judges on the Supreme Court are Jewish?
Most likely none, why are you asking this?