This book describes the state of the lay participation system in
criminal justice, saiban-in seido, in Japanese society. Starting with
descriptions of the outlines of lay participation in the Japanese
criminal justice system, the book deals with the questions of what the
lay participants think about the system after their participation, how
the general public evaluate the system, whether the introduction of lay
participation has promoted trust in the justice system in Japan, and the
foci of Japanese society's interest in the lay participation system. To
answer these questions, the author utilizes data obtained from social
surveys of actual participants and of the general public. The book also
explores the results of quantitative text analyses of newspaper
articles. With those data, the author describes how Japanese society
evaluates the implementation of the system and discusses whether the
system promotes democratic values in Japan.