Researching & Citing Japanese Law

Wei Luo, JD & MLS

Director of Technical Services

and Lecturer in Law

Room 257A, luo@wulaw.wustl.edu

August, 2010

What do we have in Japanese laws?

Most of primary Japanese legal materials published in Japanese

Can access most of the English translations of Japanese laws

Most of English monographs about Japanese laws

Some Japanese law books in Japanese

Major Japanese legal periodicals

Bluebook General Rules for Citing Sources in Foreign Languages: Rule 20.2

Cite the most official or authoritative version

Give “full title or name in the original language” at first time + [English translation]

Abbreviations: give “full form at first time + [abbreviations] and Abbreviations used in T.2

Bluebook Citation Format: Japan

T.2: Foreign Jurisdictions

Japan, T2.24 and pp. 350-357

Customize the Bluebook Rules with the publications you have

Citation: Major Codes

Japanese laws are not codified like USC

Constitution and five major codes can be cited as: Kenpō, art. 9, para. 2

Minpō, art. 398-20, para 1, no.1

Shōhō

Keihō

Keisohō

Citation: Constitution

Format: <Constitution name> [<Constitution abbreviation>] [<Constitution>], art., para. (country abbreviation if not evident from context>).

Nihonkoku Kenpo [Kenpo] [Constituion], art. 9, para. 2 (Japan).

Citation: Code

Minji Soshoho [Minsoho] [C. Civ. Pro.] 1996, art. 4, para. 6 (Japan)

Citation: statutes & regulations

<law name> [<law abbreviation if avaialble>] [English translation of law abbreviation or name>] <# of year>, <art. paragraph #>.

Kenchiku kijunhō [Building Standard Law], Law No. 201 of 1950, art. 2, para. 1.

Citation: case law

Format: <court name> [<English abbreviated translation of court name>] <date of decision>, <case number, if desired>, <volume number> <reporter or periodical name> [<reporter or periodical abbreviation>] <first page>, <specific page> (<Japan if needed>).

Case citation: samples

Saiko Saibansho [Sup. Ct.] Dec. 4, 2007, Hei 18 (Kyo) no.40, 61 Saiko saibansho Minji Hanreishu [Minshu] 3245, 3252 (Japan).

Chiteki Zaisan Koto Saibansho [Intellectual Prop. High Ct.] Nov. 13, 2008, Hei 20 (gyo ke) no. 10112, Saiko Saibansho Saibanrei Joho [Saibanrei Joho], 8, http://www.courts.go.jp.

Japanese Primary Legal Materials Publishing

Statutes Compilations, no codification like USC or CFR

Constitution and its amendments, laws enacted by Diet, treaties, orders of the Cabinet, orders and rules of Ministries, and other statutes, are compiled together

Japan has a more systematic case law reporting system

English Translation of Japanese Laws: expectation?

Not all are translated

The publications of foreign law translations are expensive

Japanese Statutes in English

EHS law bulletin series, Japan, 1948- , KNX13 1948 .E39, about 370 to 400 hundreds Japanese laws and regulations being translated, 8 volumes Vol I: Constitution, Diet, Cabinet

Vol II: Judicial Code, Civil Code, Commercial Code, Civil Procedure, Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure

EHS (continued)

Vol III: Education, Culture, Religion, Construction and Police

Vol IV: Internal Revenue Code

Vol V: Foreign Exchange, Foreign Trade, Foreign Investment, United Nations Property

Vol VI: Banking, Insurance, Commerce, and Patent

Vol VII: Agriculture and Industry

Vol VIII: Labor, Welfare and Sanitation

EHS website: http://www.ehs.or.jp/index_en.html

Free English Translations of Japanese Laws

Japanese Law Translation Database System by the Japanese Ministry of Justice at http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/

Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd (provides links to translations of business-related and many other laws and regulations.) at http://www.mizuho-sc.com/english/ebond/law.html

Government Agencies’ Websites

The Government Agency’s Portal for Ministries and Independent Government Entities]) (各府省・独立行政法人等のホームページ ) (in Japanese). Some of the ministries have English pages, with laws translated into English.http://www.e-gov.go.jp/link/link.html

English translations of Japanese Cases

Harder to find than laws, only the supreme court cases are available in English.

Series of prominent judgments of the Supreme Court upon questions of constitutionality. no. 1-30 (1954-1999) Ceased Publication. KNX2066.3 .J37

Judgments of the Supreme Court of Japan

http://www.courts.go.jp/english/judgments

Other Free Cases in English

IP Cases at Institute of IP http://database.iip.or.jp/cases/

Henrei: summaries of important constitutional, civil and commercial law cases in Japan http://www.senrei.com/

Henrei: summaries of important constitutional, civil and commercial law cases in Japan http://www.senrei.com/

Westlaw and Lexis

Westlaw: Japanese Patents (JP-PAT),Japanese Patents and Applications (JP-PAT-ALL) , Japanese Patent Applications (JP-PAT-APP) , and various Business & News related to Japan

http://www.westlawjapan.com/

Lexis: Doing Business in Japan by Bender and various news related to Japan

http://legal.lexisnexis.jp/

Secondary Sources in English

Books: we collect many monographs in Japanese law

Law Review Articles: use Index to Legal Periodicals

Westlaw and Lexis: Japanese news, business, and other articles

World News Connections: Japanese news mediates reports

Romanization/Transliteration: Japanese

Japan has two major systems

Hepburn system: the most popular (Kenkyusha's new Japanese-English dictionary)

Kunrei system: older for technical translators

i.e. 憲法: “Kenpō” / Not “Kempo, or Kempou, or kempoh”

民事訴訟法: “Minji Soshōhō”/Not “minji soshō hō”)

Japanese Romanization Guide

http://lib.law.washington.edu/eald/jlr/jlrintro.htm#RomanizationNotes

Statutes in Japanese and Print

H¯orei zensho 法令全書 (Laws and Orders Compilation)Tokyo : Naikaku kan¯okyoku Kei¯o 3- [1867]-, KNX12 .H67, monthly, our collection 2000-2008

Roppō zensho 六法全書 (Six Laws Compilation), annual, KNX15 .R67, up

to 2008

Free Statutes and Administrative Regulations on the Web

法令データ提供システム [Hōrei dēta teikyō shisutemu] (E-Government Website with the full text of all current laws and administrative regulations) http://law.e-gov.go.jp/

The library of Diet: including superseded laws, http://hourei.ndl.go.jp/SearchSys/index.jsp

官報 [Kanpō] = Government Gazette, including new legislations http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/kanpo/digest.html

Administrative Regulations

Case Reporters in Japanese (1)

最高裁判所判例集 [Saikō Saibansho hanreishū] = Supreme Ct. Reporters. KNX18.A31948, 1947-current

高等裁判所判例集 [Kōtō Saibansho hanreishū] = High Ct. Reporter.

下級裁判所刑事裁判例集 （下刑集）[Kakyū saibansho keiji saiban reishū (Kakeishū)] = Lower Ct. Reporters (Criminal)

下級裁判所民事裁判例集 （下民集）[Kakyū Saibansho minji saiban reishū (Kaminshū)] = Lower Ct. Reporter (Civil)

Case Reporters in Japanese (2)

労働関係民事裁判例集（労民集）[Rōdō kankei minji saiban reishū (Rōminshū)]. CEASED Continued on the web

知的財産権関係民事・行政判例集（知的裁集）[Chiteki zaisanken kankei minji, gyōsei saiban reishū. (Chiteki Saishū)]. Continued on the web

行政事件裁判例集（行裁判集）[Gyōsei jiken saiban reishū (Gyōsaishū)] . Continued on the web

Cases Reporters in Japanese (3)

判例時報（判時）[Hanrei jihō (Hanji)]. KNX6 .H37 (Three times a month)

判例タイムズ（判タ）[Hanrei taimuzu (Hanta)] = Law Times Report. KNX19.A35 .H36 (Twice a month)

Free Case Law Database on the Japanese Supreme Court’s Website

判例検索システム [Hanrei Kensaku Shisutemu] (Search all decisions of various courts) http://www.courts.go.jp/search/jhsp0010?action_id=first&hanreiSrchKbn=01

Cases in this database can be searched by various level of courts and cases related to administration, labor, or IP

Secondary Sources in Japanese

Books: we have a substantial collection Law Review Articles

Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals WU East Asian Library: Japanese

resources at http://libguides.wustl.edu/japanese

Print Law Reviews/Journals at WU Law Library

Display Japanese on WU OPAC

Go to catalog.wustl.edu

Choose Law Library Catalog

Choose “Other Catalogs”

Choose Chinese/Japanese/Korean display for Catalog

Choose Unicode display (Recommended for viewing CJK, Arabic, and Hebrew records)

Major Japanese Law Journals subscribed by the WU Law Lib.

Gekkan shihō kaikaku = Journal of judicial reform in Japan. 1999-

Hōritsu hanrei bunken jōhō = Current legal information 1981-

Junkan shōji hōmu 1972- Shihō tōkei nenpō = Annual report of judicial statistics

for .... 1954- Hanrei jihō 1953- Jurisuto 1952- Hanrei taimuzu = The law times report. 1950- Minshōhō zasshi. 1935-

Legal Research Guide

Websites created by law librarian, i.e.:

http://lib.law.washington.edu/eald/jlr/jres.html

Japan

News Papers in English on the Web

The Japan Times, http://www.japantimes.co.jp/

Nikkei Net : Business news http://e.nikkei.com/e/fr/freetop.aspx

Questions?