Rokumoto, Kahei

English

Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Case Western Reserve Journal ofInternational LawVolume 25 | Issue 21993International Association of Legal SciencesSymposium: Colloquium SummaryKahei RokumotoFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/jilPart of the International Law CommonsThis Foreword is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Journals at Case Western Reserve University School of Law ScholarlyCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law by an authorized administrator of Case WesternReserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons.Recommended CitationKahei Rokumoto, International Association of Legal Sciences Symposium: Colloquium Summary, 25 Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 125 (1993)Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/jil/vol25/iss2/3IntroductionKahei Rokumoto*I. THEMESThis volume contains the National Reports presented to the Collo-quium. Given the broad areas covered by "The Social Role of the LegalProfession," it seemed advisable to define the Colloquium topic in morespecific terms. Accordingly, the following four themes were formulatedand the National Reporters were asked to choose topics for their Nation-al reports:I. Contemporary Problems of the JudiciaryII. Issues of the Lawyer PopulationII. Frontiers of Legal PracticeIV. Role of the Legal Profession in Social ChangeThe themes that the National Reporters chose to discuss were asfollows:Australia: I, IIChina: GeneralFrance: I, II, III, IVGermany: I, IIHungary: I, IVJapan: I, IIKorea: IThailand: GeneralUnited Kingdom: IIUnited States: I, IVTheme 11 was taken up by only one National Report explicitly, butmost papers discuss problems under this theme in some form. It is notsurprising that some National Reporters chose to discuss the generalconditions of their legal profession rather than focus on some of thesuggested themes, for these themes are not particularly relevant to coun-tries with relatively young legal professions.* Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo.CASE W. RES. J. INT'L LVII. VARIETY OF LEGAL PROFESSIONSThe variety of countries participating in this Colloquium is impres-sive. From a geographical point of view, Western and Eastern Europeand America are represented, as well as Asia and Oceania. Also, thesecountries are well-balanced from a historical and cultural point of view.From a legal point of view, which may be the most relevant, con-ference participants represent a variety of legal systems. Some countriesemploy a legal system belonging to the common law tradition: Australia,the United Kingdom, and the United States. Its influence seems to bestrong in the Thai legal system as well. France and Germany representthe continental or civil law heritage. It is significant to note that theGerman National Report contains a brief mention of the former EastGermany. Korea and Japan might also be included in this group, al-though Japan introduced some Anglo-American elements into its basical-ly continental legal system after 1945. In addition, the socialist legalsystem is represented by China. Moreover, Hungary's legal system isinfluenced by socialist ideas of law that prevailed until very recently.Some of the legal professions represented have a long history ofdevelopment, whereas others are very young, as is the case with theChinese. Still others, such as the Japanese legal profession, have a hun-dred-year history, and are on their way to full institutional maturity.In discussing the various problems of the legal profession reportedin the National Reports, the variety of subject matter should be exam-ined. The particular problems that each society sees in its legal profes-sion must be viewed in the unique context of that society, as productsof the specific constellation of its cultural, historical, political, and in-stitutional heritage. At the same time, in spite of this variety, someimportant features are common to many, if not all of the legal profes-sions represented, arising out of the more or less similar conditions ofour contemporary society. With this variety in mind, each NationalReporter was asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding some principalfeatures of the legal profession he/she represents, so that a visual set ofreference materials for discussion was available.III. TERMSAs all are aware, "legal profession" is an indeterminate term and itsreferent is somewhat different from one country to another or from onewriter to another. "Legal profession" comprises various categories oflawyers or the lawyers occupying various positions in the legal system.Because the ways in which they are categorized and related to eachother are also different from one legal system to another, some terminol-ogy is employed in order to be clear regarding duscussion. As a starting[Vol. 25:1211ALS SYMPOSIUMpoint, the term "fully qualified lawyer" and "private lawyer" were tenta-tively defined as follows:A "fully qualified lawyer" refers to a person qualified by law to exer-cise legal expertise without restriction in a judicial or prosecutorialcapacity, or to provide legal service to clients, representing the latter ina legal matter in or out of court, in drafting a legal document, or ingiving legal advice.A "private lawyer" refers to a person in "private practice" or employedby a business firm or a governmental organization other than a judicialor prosecutorial organ. It excludes "lawyers in office" (i.e., judges orprosecutors) and those in full-time teaching positions.In addition, as the returned questionnaires testify, a number ofprofessions do not consist of fully qualified lawyers, despite the fact thatprofessional skills are exercised in a restricted area of legal services. Forlack of better terms, these professions are labeled "quasi-lawyers" or"auxiliaries."19931

International Association of Legal Sciences Symposium: Colloquium Summary

https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1601&amp;context=jil

International Association of Legal Sciences Symposium: Colloquium Summary

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Case Western Reserve University School of Law