JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Hiroki Wakabayashi, Kenichi Sadaka and Kei Akagawa, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
in person to determine the issues, the court will proceed to hold the trial (ie, evidentiary hearing). At the evidentiary hearing, counsel for the par- ties are primarily responsible for conducting the examination-in-chief and cross-examination, while the judge may ask supplementary ques- tions at any time. It is very rare for the parties to present opening/closing oral arguments at the evidentiary hearing. In some cases, however, the court holds another hearing after the eviden- tiary hearing, at which the parties present their respective closing arguments in writing. 7.2 Case Management Hearings Interim petitions, such as a petition to transfer a case, a petition to challenge/disqualify the judge, and a petition for document production, are usu- ally heard at, and ruled upon at or after, an oral hearing or a preparatory hearing at the pleading stage. Where the court finds it necessary to examine witnesses/experts in person, the court usually consults with the parties as to the logistics relat- ing to the trial (ie, evidentiary hearing). 7.3 Jury Trials in Civil Cases No jury trials are available in civil cases. 7.4 Rules That Govern Admission of Evidence There is no particular rule governing the admis- sibility of evidence in civil cases. Unless the evi- dence has been obtained in an extremely unethi- cal way (eg, stolen by the litigant), any evidence (including hearsay evidence) is admissible as a general rule. 7.5 Expert Testimony Expert testimony is permitted at trial. An expert witness is appointed by the court, either upon
introduction by a party or upon the court’s own selection. 7.6 Extent to Which Hearings Are Open to the Public Oral hearings (including the evidentiary hearing) are open to the public, while preparatory hear- ings are not. In patent/know-how litigation and divorce/filiation litigation, the court may decide not to open the evidentiary hearing to the public to safeguard the party’s proprietary know-how or shield sensitive personal matters. 7.7 Level of Intervention by a Judge During a trial (ie, an evidentiary hearing), a judge may put questions to the witnesses at any time. The judge may also intervene in counsel’s exam- ination of witnesses, if the court finds it inappro- priate or confusing. At the evidentiary hearing, the judge will rule on the objections on examination (such as leading, repetitive or insulting questions). Such rulings are not subject to appeal. If a witness refuses to testify, the court will rule on whether such refusal is based on a good reason. Such rulings are sub- ject to appeal in a higher court. 7.8 General Timeframes for Proceedings Typically, a commercial dispute between rea- sonably sophisticated companies will, on aver- age, take 12–18 months from the filing of the complaint to the trial (evidentiary hearing). The trial (evidentiary hearing) will usually last half a day or one full day. However, if there are multiple witnesses, the hearing could extend over two or more days, with sessions scheduled weeks apart.
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