A new pretrial procedure that will be required under the planned "citizen judge" system will be applied for the first time in an attempted murder trial that opened in September in Tokyo, sources said Monday.
The procedure is aimed at expediting the criminal trial process.
The step, based on the revised Code of Criminal Procedure set to take effect Tuesday, will be required under the new quasi-jury system to be introduced in 2009.
Under the procedure, prosecutors and defense attorneys will disclose their evidence to each other and clarify the main points of their arguments before the trial begins.
It has already been agreed to apply the procedure to some criminal cases being tried around the country under the current "professional judge" trial system.
In the Tokyo attempted murder case, an Iranian man has been indicted for allegedly slashing an Iranian acquaintance in the back and on other parts of his body with deadly intent in Roppongi in September. The man denied intending to kill the victim.
Under the "citizen judge" system, professional judges and citizen jurors will have equal authority in deciding verdicts and punishments in cases involving serious crimes such as murder.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.