JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Junichi Ikeda, Takayuki Fujii, Satoyuki Nakano and Tomoaki Kitaguchi, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu
cedure mentioned in 2.7 Rules for Disclosure of Documents in Product Liability Cases , the court renders its judgment based on the elec - tronic judgment form. Final Appeal A final appeal in response to a high court judg - ment must be filed within two weeks from the day on which the written judgment is served to the parties. As with the first-level appeal, a respondent may file an incidental final appeal. A final appeal can be filed on the grounds that the judgment reflects an error in the interpre - tation of the constitution or that it is otherwise unconstitutional. A final appeal can also be filed on the grounds of the existence of a material violation of the proceedings under Article 312 (2) of the Code of Civil Procedure. A final appeal to a high court can also be filed on the grounds of a violation of law or regulation that has clearly influenced the judgment. Under the Act Partially Amending the Code of Civil Procedure, the court renders its judgment based on the electronic judgment form. Petition for Acceptance of Final Appeal If the Supreme Court is the court where the final appeal should be filed, and the prior judgment contains a decision that is inconsistent with precedents rendered by the Supreme Court or involves other material matters concerning the interpretation of laws and regulations, the Supreme Court can, on petition, accept the case as the final appellate court. 2.12 Defences to Product Liability Claims The manufacturer and other relevant parties are not liable where the product is used as a compo - nent or raw material of another product; a defect occurred primarily as a result of compliance with the instructions concerning the design given by
• the execution of a contract; • a defect in the product; • the cause of that defect being attributable to the defendant; • the occurrence of damage and the amount of damages claimed; and • a causal relationship between the defect and the damage. 2.10 Courts in Which Product Liability Claims Are Brought Product liability cases must be filed with a dis - trict court or summary court as a court of first instance. As the summary courts handle civil cases that involve claims not exceeding JPY1.4 million, product liability cases that involve more than this amount must be filed with a district court. The lay-judge system has been introduced to criminal trials in Japan, where citizens selected as judges participate in trials but not in civil cas - es. As such, product liability cases are decided without the involvement of a jury and by judges only. 2.11 Appeal Mechanisms for Product Liability Claims As with ordinary proceedings of civil cases, the proceedings of product liability cases are gov - erned by the Code of Civil Procedure and the An appeal to the court of second instance must be filed within two weeks from the day on which the written judgment is served to the parties. Even after the right to appeal to the court of second instance is extinguished, a respondent may file an incidental appeal until oral arguments are concluded in the second instance. Under the Act Partially Amending the Code of Civil Pro - Rules of Civil Procedure. Court of Second Instance
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