Law schools should improve the quality of educational programs
(From The Japan Times September 30 issue)

法科大学院の質の向上で弁護士を増やせ

Under Japan's judicial reform to nurture legal pofessionals who can meet the increasing needs of citizens in law-related matters, 74 new law schools have been set up since 2004. The government hoped that 2,900 to 3,000 of their graduates would annually pass the bar exam. But the results of this year's bar exam, the fifth under the new system, aren't so hot.

A record 2,074 graduates passed the exam, 31 more than in 2009 but still far fewer than the hoped-for 2,900 to 3,000. The success rate was a record low 25.4 percent.

The division of law schools into good- and bad-performing ones has become clear. Half of the successful applicants came from the top eight schools. More than a dozen law schools each produced five or fewer successful applicants; their success rate was only around 10 percent. One law school, which has produced only three successful applicants in five years, decided to stop accepting students in and after fiscal 2011, and to close eventually.

If the number of successful bar exam applicants continues to languish, law schools will become less attractive and fail to attract talented people. This will further push down the success rate for the bar exam, creating a vicious cycle. It is imperative that law schools improve the quality of teachers and educational programs.

When the new law schools opened, they were popular, their entrance exams attracting many people. But in fiscal 2010, the number of law school applicants was about one-third of what it used to be and those who were admitted numbered 4,122, or 70 percent of peak enrollment.

The education ministry should not forget the original goal of the reform and should push the policy of preventing the concentration of lawyers in large cities, by helping law schools eager to nurture lawyers who will work in the countryside. It also should improve scholarship or loans for highly motivated students.

法の専門家を育成する司法制度改革のもと、政府は司法試験合格者3000人という目標を掲げ、2004年に法科大学院74校が設立された。制度発足 5年目の今年、2074名の大学院修了生が合格、新司法試験過去最多数だが目標数値は下回った。合格率は過去最低の25.4％だった。

合格者の多い学校と少ない学校が二極化している。合格者の半数は上位8校が占め、5年間で合格者3名という学校は撤退を表明した。司法試験受験者が減り続ければ、法科大学院の人気が落ちて優秀な学生が敬遠し、合格率も下がるという悪循環が生まれる。法科大学院の教育力向上が求められている。

文科省は当初の改革の目的を念頭に、地方に定着する弁護士を育てる法科大学院を支援し、大都市への偏在を避ける政策を推進すべきだ。やる気のある学生のために奨学金やローンの制度を向上させることも必要だ。