Comparison of Greek and Japanese legal cultures

2016

Japan and Greece are two countries situated far away from each other, the former in Asia and the later in Europe. Although both Japanese and Greeks have developed civilization since the antiquity, there has been limited interaction between the two civilizations until the end of the Second World War. After the end of the Second World War and especially due to globalization, commercial activity between the two states has increased. By participating in the course “Modern Japan: Culture and Society” I had the chance to get introduced to basic elements of the Japanese culture and society including the Japanese educational system. Having studied law and working as a lawyer in Greece, I decided to focus my research on the Japanese legal education system, compare it to the Greek legal education system and find their similarities and differences. In the following pages I will try to answer the research question: “Which are the main similarities and differences of the Japanese and Greek legal education system?”.

Journal of Japanese Law/Zeitschrift für Japanisches Recht, 2020

The purpose of the joint article is to draw a map of the present state Japanese legal studies (in a broad sense) across Europe. It is divided into country sections, each of which has been written by a “country representative”, i.e. an expert in the field of Japanese law from the following eight jurisdictions: Italy, France, Israel, Scandinavia, Spain, The Low Countries, Belgium, The United Kingdom, and Germany. The emerging picture shows a widely varying degree of interest and engagement in teaching, researching, and practicing Japanese law. In some countries, Japanese legal studies are part of Japanese studies in general, in others they are positioned within the context of comparative law or, more specifically, East Asian legal studies.

Continuity and Change, 1995

En comparaison avec d'autres nations industrielles, le Japon présente des taux de criminalité et de procédures civiles extraordinairement bas. Ce que Ton trouve à l'origine de cette situation peu commune, c'est le sens des responsabilités de groupe ou individuelle, la pesanteur du conformisme et le rôle que jouent conciliation et médiation. En examinant les cinq phases du développement juridique du Japon – les phases chinoise, féodale, ‘féodale centralisée’, celle du droit romain et celle du droit anglo-américain – on peut mieux comprendre certaines contradictions. II en ressort en effet, pour le règlement des conflits, une curieuse interaction entre d'une part un cadre juridique ‘moderne’ et…

2012

2001

When we teach or research or practice that knowledge we call “Japanese Law” we are entering a field that is largely one of our own creation. “Japanese Law” exists in our minds and in our writings, but it maps very imperfectly the worlds of jurisprudence and legal practice, as they exist in Japan.1 “Japanese Law” is not a neutral label; it comes with built-in inferences, drawn from our own locale and from those of colleagues with whom we share the “field”. In effect, the images and reference points that we “fix” as emblematic of our country of study are “haunted” or shadowed by the concepts and images of other, European concepts and institutions. Once we become aware of the shadows, we can no longer matter-of-factly experience the setting for our study. My guess is that most of us have had turning points or moments when our view of Japan and “Japanese Law” changed quite dramatically. At that moment, we became aware that we have been seeing “Japanese Law” through the prism of a partic...

The American Journal of Comparative Law, 1991

BOOK REVIEW 447 istration, human rights protection, the general principles of the civil law, the law of obligations, property, family law, urban and regional planning, successions commercial law, intellectual property, insurance law, business associations, admiralty and private maritime law, labor law, social insurance, judicial organization and civil procedure, conflicts of law, tax and investment incentives, and criminal law and procedure. Obviously, to have all of this in one volume requires summary and succinct description. The volume's major problem is that the one volume space limit constrains the scope and depth of each chapter. Yet the book provides tremendous comparative insight into a continental legal system. Indeed, it calls for many of the authors to produce a major comparative article or book in English on his or her topic of expertise. To provide a bit of the flavor, I will focus on a few of the chapters which I personally found of interest. Some were chosen because of their import for the comparativist as a bridge between the "civilian" and the common law models. Others I discuss, primarily because they are within my own interest and expertise. Some chapters, although done by masters of their subject, I do not discuss, because of my lack of expertise in the particular subject matter. Chapter 1,1 presents the Historical Development of Greek law and the Greek legal system, from the mysts of classical mythology and epic poetry to modern Greece. It provides the reader with more than that, however. It is a concise and pithy summary of the legal history of Greek Civilization. We are reminded that not only legal philosophy, but also comparative law, have their origins in the works of Plato, Aristotle and Theoprastus, legal philosophers concerned with the ideal of justice, the sources and function of law. We are also reminded that the origin of systematic elaboration on a legal system is to be found in the works of the Roman jurisconsults.2 We learn that some things have not changed that much, even since the Classical period: although tribunals were not bound by precedent, judges and juries were impressed by it and prior cases were frequently cited in court. Demosthenes not only cited cases in his speeches, but also strived to distinguish adverse precedent.3 We even see some affinity to ourselves: Aristophanies' comedies show how Athenians were fond of litigation, regarding it as a pleasant pastime.4 We also note that Greek law is the basis for Continental Civil Law and for Canon law, thereby influencing England, Continental Europe and America, as well.5 This is due to the early Greek con

TLI Think! Paper 17/2016, available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2780146 (2016)

This paper analyses the influence of the Italian legal model on the modern Japanese legal system. The paper is divided in three parts. In the first, it analyses the formative period of modern Japanese law, when foreign influences on Japanese law have been very strong. The Italian influence was, apart some notable exceptions, quite limited. The second part takes into consideration the 1900s, when Japanese jurisprudence almost overlooked the Italian legal model. The last part presents the years from the 1990s until today: in this period it is possible to notice an increased interest in the Italian legal system. This study evidences an example of path dependency in the dynamics related to the reception of foreign models in Japan, at least until the 1990s. The profound shocks that affected the Japanese society in the early 1990s stimulated a reassessment of the role of the law in the Japanese society and legal reform in many areas. A consequence of this was a greater curiosity towards the study of foreign legal systems that previously were virtually unexplored, including the Italian legal system, which became a legal system «of reference».

Grant Proposal for a Non-Profit

Paso 1: Identificación del problema.