JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Hiroki Wakabayashi, Kenichi Sadaka and Kei Akagawa, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
may be made in a class action are limited to those arising from consumer contracts and the damages to be recovered through the system are limited. Furthermore, the parties who can be plaintiffs in a class action are limited to organisa- tions licensed by the government. In fact, this class action system has rarely been used. There is also a system by which persons with a com- mon interest may appoint one or more persons from among themselves to act as the plaintiff or defendant, but this system has also rarely been used. 3.8 Requirements for Cost Estimate The Japan Federation of Bar Association’s rule requires a lawyer to give an estimate when so requested by a client. Parties may make an interim application regard- ing case management issues under the CCP and/or provisional remedies under the Civil Provisional Remedies Act (1989 Law No 91, or CPRA). An application regarding case manage- ment issues is normally handled by the same judge overseeing the substantive claim; howev- er, for provisional remedies the application may be handled by a different court as a request for such provisional remedies is heard in a separate case from the case for the substantive claim and can be filed at another court with jurisdiction due to the presence of the subject assets (Article 12 of the CPRA). 4.2 Early Judgment Applications 4. Pre-trial Proceedings 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions Generally, all issues on the procedures and mer- its are assessed in the same process. However, if it is obvious that a certain procedural require- ment is not met, as challenged by the counter-
party, the judge may give an interim decision on the specific procedural issue and may also con- clude the process without admitting evidence on the merits – such as witness examinations – and dismiss the case. Refer also to 7.2 Case Management Hearings . 4.3 Dispositive Motions Motions to dismiss a case due to lack of inter- national jurisdiction or due to the existence of an arbitration agreement are dispositive motions. A defendant is required to file such a motion before presenting any arguments on the merits of the case. Judges have the discretion to either sus- pend consideration of the merits until they reach a decision on the dispositive motion or to exam- ine the merits alongside the dispositive motion. In practice, when judges determine that the dis- positive motion warrants dismissal, they often issue their decision to dismiss the motion at the same time as their decision on the merits of the case. 4.4 Requirements for Interested Parties to Join a Lawsuit Interested parties may join a lawsuit through one of the following procedures. • By filing a written petition with the court, a third party with an interest in the outcome of the litigation may intervene in the litigation in order to assist either party (Article 42 of the CCP). • By filing a written petition with the court, a third party asserting that a right will be preju- diced by the outcome of the litigation or a third party asserting entitlement to the whole or part of the subject matter of the litigation, may intervene in the litigation as a party, designating either or both of the parties to the
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