NMI judicial system impresses visiting young Japanese lawyers

Young Japanese lawyers who are currently on the island to familiarize themselves with the local judicial system had nothing but praise for the CNMI’s judiciary system.

“Very good. We could understand the law system in the Northern Marianas,” attorney Aoba Kanichi told the Saipan Tribune after the Superior Court and CNMI Supreme Court conducted a presentation for the Seiryu-Wakate-kai.

Kanichi said the local law system is “very different” from the Japanese’s system. He said, though, that the Japanese system now is slowly becoming similar with the American judiciary system.

There were no law schools before in Japan. To become lawyers then, one had to attend universities and pass a bar examination, he said.

Kanichi said it was only two years ago when Japan established law schools.

He said this is his first time to visit Saipan and that he is enjoying his stay.

“The sky is clear, the food is delicious, so I am very happy,” he said.

Twenty-one members of the Seiryu-Wakate-kai toured the Judicial Complex in Susupe, listened to the presentation, and met some members of the CNMI Bar Association yesterday.

Superior Court Associate Judge Juan T. Lizama lectured the group on a little historical background of CNMI laws from the Trust Territory time to the present.

Mia Giacomazzi, a law clerk for Chief Justice Miguel Demapan, conducted a presentation about the federal and state systems and the changes that have taken place over the years.

Lizama said Giacomazzi discussed, among other things, how trial court decisions are appealed and what kind of appeals originate from CNMI courts and from district courts.

Lizama’s law clerk, attorney Elizabeth Barrett Ristroph, also discussed how Superior Court judges make decisions when confronted with issues that the CNMI does not have case laws yet. When facing with such issues, CNMI goes to various states common laws.

The judge said Ristroph also talked about how a CNMI public policy can affect the court’s decisions.

Lizama said the visiting lawyers think it is very complicated, maybe mostly because of the language.

“But I think they understand the system. They think it’s a great experience,” the judge said.

Seiryu-Wakate-kai is a group of lawyers from Nagoya who have worked less than 10 years after their registration to the Aichi Bar Association. The group tours foreign countries every other year to visit courts and exchange opinions with local lawyers.

The group arrived on Saipan Thursday and would go back to Japan today.