January 2008 #2. Unofficial Observations On The HSBA's Meeting With The Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association by Mark T. Shklov and the Honorable Patrick Border.

• Author: by Mark T. Shklov and the Honorable Patrick Border

Hawaii Bar Journal

2008.

January 2008 #2.

Unofficial Observations On The HSBA's Meeting With The Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association by Mark T. Shklov and the Honorable Patrick Border

Hawaii State Bar JournalJanuary 2008Unofficial Observations On The HSBA's Meeting With The Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association by Mark T. Shklov and the Honorable Patrick Borderby Mark T. Shklov and the Honorable Patrick BorderIn October, 2004, I [Mark Shklov] went to Tokyo, Japan on business. At that time, in furtherance of newly elected HSBA President Richard Turbin's international vision for the Hawaii bar, I carried letters to the leadership of Tokyo's bar associations inviting them to attend the 2005 HSBA Annual Convention. I met with the Tokyo bar leaders and delivered Turbin's letters, and in due course, Kenji Hashidate, the Chairman of the International Law Section of the Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association, led a delegation of Japanese lawyers to Honolulu in October, 2005 to attend the HSBA annual meeting. Hashidate's visit was highlighted by the signing of a Friendship Agreement between the two bar associations.

At the beginning of October 2007, HSBA representatives paid a reciprocal visit to Tokyo, Japan to meet with members of the Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association. Representing the HSBA at the meeting were Jeffrey Portnoy, who as HSBA President, led the delegation, Jeffrey Sia, Robert Godbey, Ellen Carson, Judge Sabrina McKenna, Richard Turbin, Jill Hasegawa, Judge Patrick Border, Geraldine Hasegawa, Rai Saint Chu, Lyn Flanigan, and Mark Shklov. Portnoy, who did an excellent job representing the HSBA at this meeting, has shared his impressions in his November 2007 Perspectives column in the Hawaii Bar Journal.

As part of this official visit, on October 1, 2007, a Joint Seminar was conducted by the HSBA and the Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar. The subject of the Joint Seminar was a comparative discussion of the Saiban-in (citizen judge) system which is being planned in Japan and the existing jury system in Hawaii. Portnoy, Sia, Godbey, Carson and McKenna delivered short, precise and knowledgeable lectures on the jury system. Kiyoshi Matsuo, Yoichi Eto, and Hirobumi Suzuki, leading members of the Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar, then described the Saiban-in system.

The Saiban-in system represents a dramatic departure for the Japanese judicial system, which currently does not use...