裁判員制度の導入

(Mainichi Japan) November 27, 2008

Candidates to become citizen judges

余録：２枚の木の葉に正神と邪神の像をそれぞれ白と黒で描き…

A form of trial by ordeal was used in ancient India. Two leaves would be painted white and black and then placed in earthen balls. The white and black leaves represented the gods of truth and falsehood, respectively. The balls would then be placed in a jar from which they would be drawn by the defendant on trial. The person who took the black leaf symbolizing the false god would be decreed to be the guilty party, while the person holding the white leaf went free.

　２枚の木の葉に正神と邪神の像をそれぞれ白と黒で描き、土団子に入れる。二つの土団子をカメの底に置いて被告ににぎらせ、邪神の葉をとった者は有罪、正神は無罪になる－－古代インドで行われた抽籤（ちゅうせん）神判だ

Trials by ordeal use a variety of methods to demonstrate divine will. One of these was trial by weight, where the accused would be weighed twice. If the weight of the accused was greater on the second weighing, the person was considered guilty. Another method was trial by holy water, where the accused would drink water that had been poured over an image of a Hindu devil. If, after drinking the water, something bad happened, the accused was deemed guilty. These are some examples discovered in an Indian legal dictionary by a legal historian.

▲神判はいろいろな方法で示される神意による裁判だ。２度体重を量り、前より後が重ければ有罪という秤（はかり）神判、ヒンズー教の魔像を浸した水を飲み、その後凶事があれば有罪との神水神判もある。法制史家がインドの法典から集めた例だ

These methods of trial by chance were gentle in comparison to other options. In the trial by fire, a heated iron ball was placed in the hand of the accused, and trial by boiling oil, the accused was required to place their hand in a vat of boiling oil. A guilty verdict was passed if the hand was burned as a result of either of the trials. Similarly gruesome methods have also been practiced in Europe and Japan. In a time when people had few means to seek the truth of a case, their only recourse when judging people was to call for divine decree.

▲偶然がらみのこれらは穏便な方で、焼けた鉄丸を手に置く火神判、沸かした油に手を入れさせる沸油神判はやけどすれば有罪だ。同様の恐ろしい神判は欧州や日本でも行われた。真相解明の手段の乏しい時代、人を裁くには神意頼りだった

Even in modern times, when people are judged rationally, there is still an important role for selection by providence, or chance, as a means that surpasses human capabilities. In preparation for the launch of the citizen judge system in May next year, letters of notification are scheduled to be sent out on Nov. 28 to approximately 295,000 people whose names have been selected by lottery as candidates to become citizen judges.

▲人が合理的に裁かれる現代にあっても、抽選という人知を超えた神意、いや偶然が重要な場面がある。来年５月に発足する裁判員制度にむけ、抽選で選ばれて裁判員候補者名簿に記載された約２９万５０００人への通知書が２８日に発送される

With the exception of people who have a reason why they cannot become citizen judges, the people who receive this notification could be selected as candidates to be citizen judges in individual cases. Who exactly will sit as candidates will be decided by lottery following the launch of the system. For the people called on to act as citizen judges, a further summons will be sent out, which will be followed by an interview and further sorting methods before people are finally appointed as citizen judges.

▲通知を受けた人で裁判員になれない事情がある人以外は、制度発足後の抽選で個別事件の裁判員候補に選ばれる可能性がある。その場合は呼び出し状が届くが、裁判員選任までには、さらに面接と抽選で人数が絞られるという段取りだ

The jury system on which the citizen judge system is based began in Britain following the prohibition of trial by ordeal. It was a process whereby a case would be judged by a large number of people, pooling their knowledge in place of the divine providence relied upon in trial by ordeal. The citizen judge system is an attempt to see how modern Japanese people will utilize this knowledge. Is it likely that the people who receive notification of their candidature will feel the weight of responsibility as if divine providence were resting on their shoulders? ("Yoroku," a front-page column in the Mainichi Shimbun)

▲裁判員制度の原形である陪審制が英国で始まったのは、神判の禁止と相前後する。神に代わって人が人を裁くための知恵が、多人数による審判だった。この知恵を現代の日本人がどう生かすかが試される裁判員制度だ。さて選ばれて名簿記載通知を受けた方は何か大きな神意のようなものを感じるだろうか。

毎日新聞　2008年11月26日　東京朝刊