January 31, 2013

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations on January 30 took to the streets of Tokyo’s downtown area to increase public awareness regarding the need for the reinstatement of the public scholarship program for legal trainees.

Together with law school students and young lawyers, JFBA President Yamagishi Kenji called on passers-by to support their campaign to “cultivate a legal profession that can work for the general public to protect human rights.”

Before the scholarship program was abolished in November 2011, legal apprentices who passed the national bar examination received a state grant of 200,000 yen monthly during their one-year training period in order to cover their living expenses because they are prohibited from having part-time jobs.

After the abolition, the government launched a new loan program under which legal trainees who have financial difficulties can borrow from the Supreme Court a maximum of 280,000 yen a month during the one-year training period.

In the street campaign, the JFBA president pointed out that the role of lawyers, such as to support struggling victims of the Fukushima accident and the 3.11 disaster, has become more important. He went on to say that if lawyers suffer from a heavy debt from the start of their careers, they are unable to tackle socially needed tasks because they need to spend all their time to repay their debts.

New lawyers who ended the training last November under the loan program also joined the campaign. One of them reported that her friend went 10 million yen in debt in order to become a lawyer.

Secretary general of a civic group calling for restoration of the scholarship program Sugai Yoshio expressed his concern that the loan program will produce lawyers who prefer working for corporations to enable an early liquidation of loans than working for people. To reinstate the scholarship program is also important for the general public, he said.

Related past articles:
> Lawyers in march call for continuation of scholarship program for legal apprentices [September 17, 2010]
> Scholarship program for legal apprentices continues another year [November 19, 2010]
> Japan bar association in rally demands continuation of scholarship program for legal trainees [July 8, 2011]