Dates:

Monday 21 October, Monday 28 October and Monday 4 November: 6-8 PM, room RuW 3.101

plus

Friday 14 February 2014 all day block session, room RuW 2.102

Course Discription

Dispute resolution in Japan, in particular strikingly low litigation rates and a rich tradition of alternative dispute mechanisms, has long been drawing a strong interest from western scholars of Japanese law. Recently, this debate has been reignited by the comprehensive reform of the Japanese justice system which is gradually being implemented since 2001 with a lasting impact on how law operates within Japanese society.

Against this backdrop, our course will examine various forms of dispute resolution in Japan including court proceedings in civil matters, mediation, conciliation in civil and labor law matters, as well as commercial arbitration. During the first three sessions the instructors will offer an introduction to the general theme of the course. All participants taking the course for credit are required to give a presentation on an individual topic during the final block session at the end of the semester.

This course can be taken either as "Seminar" (Schwerpunkt Internationalisierung und Europäisierung des Rechts") or as course in "fremdsprachliche Rechtskenntnisse" within the Zentrum für Schlüsselqualifikationen.

Language of instruction will be English. Japanese language skills are not required, but most welcome. This course is open to students from all semesters, however slots are limited to encourage active participation of all students. Please register via the homepage of the Zentrum für Schlüsselqualifikationen.

Introductory reading: Shusuke KAKIUCHI, Access to Justice in Japan, Japanese Reports for the XVIIth International Congress of Comparative Law (ICCPL Publications No 10, International Centre for Comparative Law and Politics, Tokyo, 2007) pp.113-46 (2007), available online at http://www.asianlii.org/jp/other/JPLRes/2007/1.html.