trial

The Supreme Court is the highest court in Japan and the final arbitrator of legal disputes.  For a case to get heard by the Supreme Court it must have been litigated, and have reached a judgment, at every lower court without having settled or been dismissed.  Therefore, it is quite rare for cases to reach the level of the Supreme Court in Japan.

A party that brings a lawsuit in Japan always has the opportunity to withdraw their claim before the defendant answers.  However, once the defendant has answered the claim, the lawsuit cannot be withdrawn without the defendant’s permission.

While trials in Japan normally take place as close as possible to the location of witnesses and evidence, sometimes witnesses from far away locations must be consulted on some aspect of the trial.  However, having these witnesses come to the court from a faraway location is not always possible.  Therefore, in order to facilitate the appearance of witnesses from remote areas, Japanese courts sometimes allow for the examination of witnesses by video conference.

Many cases in Japan are settled by the parties before the final judgment is delivered.  Many judges actually encourage parties to settle their disputes as it is usually easier to enforce an agreement that both parties have negotiated rather than an order granted by a judge.