How Japan Justifies the Death Penalty

Wednesday, December 9, 2020
9:00 AM US Eastern time
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Event Description

Japan and the United States are the only two members of the Group of Seven advanced democracies that still execute criminals. Surveys show that the Japanese public strongly supports the death penalty, despite criticism from international organizations. Since lay jurors began participating in some criminal trials in 2009, they have played a role in deciding who should be executed. Professor Takashi Maruta will talk about the history and theory of Japan’s death penalty system, and the role now played by lay jurors.

About the Speaker

Professor Takashi Maruta is an adjunct professor at NYU Law and professor emeritus at Kwansei Gakuin University Law School. He holds an LL.M from the University of Michigan Law School and a Ph.D. from Kwansei Gakuin University. He has been a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School and Columbia Law School, and has taught Japanese law at Michigan Law School, the University of Hawaii School of Law and Sussex University Law Centre in England. He is known as a leading scholar of jury systems and advocate of the lay juror system that was introduced into Japanese criminal trials in 2009. He is also a practicing attorney in Kobe, Japan. His research interests include comparative legal systems, civil and criminal jury systems, and legal theory. His most recent English book is: Japan and Civil Jury Trials: The Convergence of Forces. He is preparing to publish an article, “How the Death Penalty Has Been Justified in Japan: Historical and Theoretical Analysis.”