The law relating to lawyers, and in particular foreign lawyers, in Japan was amended in 2003 by the Special Measures Law Concerning the Handling of Legal Business by Foreign Lawyers. The law is now in the course of implementation through regulations made by the Japanese Federation of Bar Associations, or Nichibenren. The regulatory framework to enable the law to come into effect must be in place by July 2005, and the Ministry of Justice has announced that the law will come into effect on 1 April next year.
The reforms made by the law included the introduction of the possibility of full partnership between Japanese lawyers ( bengoshi) and foreign lawyers permitted to practise their own law in Japan ( gaikokuho jimu bengoshi, or gaiben) in the form of a foreign law joint business. This is an improvement on the existing system of ‘joint enterprises’, which bengoshi and gaiben can currently form to advise on Japanese law in transactions with a foreign element. The existing system involves three sets of books (for the Japanese office, foreign law office, and joint enterprise) and other cumbersome formalities. The law also included the controversial reform of permitting foreign lawyers to employ bengoshi outside the confines of a joint enterprise.
