Top �� What's up around the Prime Minister �� February, 2004

The Tenth Meeting of the Office for Promotion of Justice System Reform Friday, February 13, 2004 The tenth meeting of the Office for Promotion of Justice System Reform was held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. At this meeting, there was a final discussion on bills related to justice system reform scheduled to be submitted to the current session of the Diet, and it was confirmed that the procedures be carried out promptly. The bills scheduled to be submitted to the Diet include: i) "Bill on Comprehensive Judicial Assistance" which aims to realize a judicial information network where people can receive information and service necessary to solve legal problems anywhere in Japan; ii) "Bill on Criminal Trials with Participation of Jury" in which randomly selected people will participate in criminal trials as jurors; iii) "Bill on the Partial Amendment of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Other Legislations Related to Criminal Matters" which strives to enhance and expedite criminal trials; and iv) "Bill on Establishment of a High Court Devoted to Intellectual Property Cases" which strives to strengthen the comprehensive response to cases related to intellectual property. In closing the meeting, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said, "The justice system reform has been pursued as the core of structural reform by the Cabinet as a whole, and the Office for Promotion of Justice System Reform has finally reached its final year. This year, as a concluding year of the Office, we need to pass many important bills. I would like to ask for further efforts of the relevant ministers in this regard."