AP: 3RD LD: Filipino man faces 1st lay judge trial with interpreters+
Sep 8 07:19 AM US/Eastern
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9AJ3RKG6&show_article=1
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SAITAMA, Japan, Sept. 8 (AP) - (Kyodo)—(EDS: ADDING INFO THROUGHOUT)
The first lay judge trial involving interpreters started Tuesday at the Saitama District Court, with a 20-year-old Filipino man accused of two robberies.
As the man, who was a minor at the time of the crimes, is the first foreigner to be tried under the newly introduced lay judge system, much of the focus has been on how accurately the two Tagalog interpreters can convey the tone of his remarks.
But when the defendant was asked by Presiding Judge Yoshifumi Otani to state his date of birth and other personal information, he gave them in Japanese instead of Tagalog.
"I see that you understand Japanese a little, but in order to secure your rights as a defendant, please state your answers in your native language," said Otani, adding the defendant may answer in Japanese if he can only express himself in Japanese.
Pleading guilty, the defendant said, "I am sorry," in Japanese and bowed slightly to the judges. Six lay judges and two standbys were selected for the four-day trial to join three professional judges in reaching a verdict.
Translations of the statements given by prosecutors and defense lawyers were read out so the defendant could listen to them through an earphone provided.
"I think it is important that the defendant could express himself in a manner that suits his feelings," said Mamoru Tsuda, a professor at Osaka University, after sitting in on the hearing.
Tsuda, who specializes in legal translations and interpretations, told reporters that speaking in Japanese could affect how the lay judges perceive the defendant, saying, "We all become happy if someone says, 'Arigato,' (thank you) in a foreign country."
Critics have voiced concern that lay judges could be swayed by subtle nuances of remarks when making their decisions while others have said that under the speeded-up legal process brought in under the lay-judge system, court translators will be put under more strain as they will have to concentrate on court hearings that extend over several straight days.
The court assigned two Tagalog interpreters for the trial instead of the usual one. The move is believed to be aimed at alleviating their workload and allowing one to check the other during interpretations.
They were seated near the prosecutors in the court.
As of April, there are over 4,000 people registered as courtroom interpreters covering 58 languages, according to the Supreme Court. No special tests are required to become a courtroom interpreter, but language skills are taken into account in enlisting them, it said.
At the Saitama District Court Tuesday, four female and two male lay judges appeared to be listening carefully to the defense counsel's statement which asked them to see how much the defendant regrets the crimes. They were also seen intensely viewing documents and photographs that prosecutors provided as evidence.
According to the prosecutors' statement, the defendant, then 19, and two other minors assaulted two people on the street in Saitama Prefecture last December and took a total of 37,000 yen in cash and other items, including a notebook personal computer, in two separate incidents.
One person was left with a broken jaw and another sustained minor injuries, it said.
The prosecutors stressed in their statement that the crimes were premeditated and motivated by the desire to gain money for clubbing, and the three assaulted innocent people.
The defense counsel said that the defendant did not have adults who understand his native language around him and was therefore deprived of the chance to change his behaviors.
While interpreters' voices overlapped those of prosecutors and lawyers during simultaneous interpretations, some of the observers said they were still able to listen to the hearing without problems.
"I don't understand any Tagalog so I only caught the Japanese lines. It did not bother me at all," said a 48-year-old woman from Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, after the hearing.
But Tsuda, who understands Tagalog, said it would be difficult for those who comprehend both languages, including the defendant.
"It was difficult to listen in because Tagalog would come in while I trying to listen to the Japanese...I think it is the same for the defendant, too," he said.
Sep 8 07:19 AM US/Eastern
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9AJ3RKG6&show_article=1
Comments (0)Email to a friend Share on Facebook Tweet this
SAITAMA, Japan, Sept. 8 (AP) - (Kyodo)—(EDS: ADDING INFO THROUGHOUT)
The first lay judge trial involving interpreters started Tuesday at the Saitama District Court, with a 20-year-old Filipino man accused of two robberies.
As the man, who was a minor at the time of the crimes, is the first foreigner to be tried under the newly introduced lay judge system, much of the focus has been on how accurately the two Tagalog interpreters can convey the tone of his remarks.
But when the defendant was asked by Presiding Judge Yoshifumi Otani to state his date of birth and other personal information, he gave them in Japanese instead of Tagalog.
"I see that you understand Japanese a little, but in order to secure your rights as a defendant, please state your answers in your native language," said Otani, adding the defendant may answer in Japanese if he can only express himself in Japanese.
Pleading guilty, the defendant said, "I am sorry," in Japanese and bowed slightly to the judges. Six lay judges and two standbys were selected for the four-day trial to join three professional judges in reaching a verdict.
Translations of the statements given by prosecutors and defense lawyers were read out so the defendant could listen to them through an earphone provided.
"I think it is important that the defendant could express himself in a manner that suits his feelings," said Mamoru Tsuda, a professor at Osaka University, after sitting in on the hearing.
Tsuda, who specializes in legal translations and interpretations, told reporters that speaking in Japanese could affect how the lay judges perceive the defendant, saying, "We all become happy if someone says, 'Arigato,' (thank you) in a foreign country."
Critics have voiced concern that lay judges could be swayed by subtle nuances of remarks when making their decisions while others have said that under the speeded-up legal process brought in under the lay-judge system, court translators will be put under more strain as they will have to concentrate on court hearings that extend over several straight days.
The court assigned two Tagalog interpreters for the trial instead of the usual one. The move is believed to be aimed at alleviating their workload and allowing one to check the other during interpretations.
They were seated near the prosecutors in the court.
As of April, there are over 4,000 people registered as courtroom interpreters covering 58 languages, according to the Supreme Court. No special tests are required to become a courtroom interpreter, but language skills are taken into account in enlisting them, it said.
At the Saitama District Court Tuesday, four female and two male lay judges appeared to be listening carefully to the defense counsel's statement which asked them to see how much the defendant regrets the crimes. They were also seen intensely viewing documents and photographs that prosecutors provided as evidence.
According to the prosecutors' statement, the defendant, then 19, and two other minors assaulted two people on the street in Saitama Prefecture last December and took a total of 37,000 yen in cash and other items, including a notebook personal computer, in two separate incidents.
One person was left with a broken jaw and another sustained minor injuries, it said.
The prosecutors stressed in their statement that the crimes were premeditated and motivated by the desire to gain money for clubbing, and the three assaulted innocent people.
The defense counsel said that the defendant did not have adults who understand his native language around him and was therefore deprived of the chance to change his behaviors.
While interpreters' voices overlapped those of prosecutors and lawyers during simultaneous interpretations, some of the observers said they were still able to listen to the hearing without problems.
"I don't understand any Tagalog so I only caught the Japanese lines. It did not bother me at all," said a 48-year-old woman from Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, after the hearing.
But Tsuda, who understands Tagalog, said it would be difficult for those who comprehend both languages, including the defendant.
"It was difficult to listen in because Tagalog would come in while I trying to listen to the Japanese...I think it is the same for the defendant, too," he said.
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