In Japan, judicial scriveners are authorized to represent their clients in real estate registrations, commercial registrations, preparation of court documents and filings with legal affairs bureaus. Judicial scriveners may also represent clients in summary courts, arbitration and mediation proceedings, but are not allowed to represent clients in district courts or more advanced stages of litigation. The more familiar term "solicitor" is also sometimes used to refer to them, although the division of responsibilities is not the same as between solicitors and barristers in the English legal system. The term "judicial scrivener", while somewhat archaic in tone, is a fairly accurate literal translation of the Japanese term. Judicial scriveners must pass an examination administered by the Ministry of Justice. The examination tests knowledge of twelve Japanese statutes, the four principalones being the Civil Code, Real EstateRegistration Act, Commercial Code and Commercial Registration Act. The examination consists of two written tests followed by one oral test; the overall pass rate is 2.8%. A person may also become qualified as a judicial scrivener by working for ten years as a court secretary, judicial secretary, or prosecutor's secretary. Judicial scriveners must maintain a membership in the judicial scrivener association for the prefecture in which they work. They can be found in solo practice or attached to law firms as employees of attorneys at law. A small number of judicial scriveners work as in-house counsel for companies, but there are strict conditions for registration of in-house judicial scriveners.
History
When Japan adopted a Western-style court system in 1872, it established a profession of daishonin to represent clients in the preparation of documents, alongside the daigennin who represented clients in courtroom arguments. A 1919 statute established a separate tier of shihō daishonin to handle court documents. The modern shihō shoshi title was adopted under a revised statute in 1935, which was superseded by a new law in 1950. The other half of the daishonin profession was replaced by the administrative scrivener profession.
