Judiciary

==﻿ ﻿ There are five types of courts in Japan: the Supreme Court, High Courts, District Courts, Family Courts and Summary Courts. == 1. The Summary Courts hear civil cases where claims are not more than 900,000 yen. Criminal cases relating to crimes that can be handled by fines or little jail time. There are 438 of these courts across the country. The cases are heard by one summary court judge. 2.The District Courts handle the most civil and criminal cases. There are 50 of these courts across the country. Most cases are heard by a one judge, beside from those cases in where it has been decided that the hearing and judgement will be made by a collegiate court or cases where the crimes are punishable by going to jail with or without labor for a at least one year. 3. The Family Courts handle family problems and child criminal cases. There are 50 of these courts across the country. The cases are heard by one judge. 4. The High Courts hear appeals against judgments by the district courts, family courts or summary courts. The High Courts are in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sendai, Sapporo and Takamatsu. The cases are heard by three judges. 5.The Supreme Court is the highest and final court that handles appeals filed against judgments by the high courts. It is run by the Chief Justice and 14 Justices with a Grand Bench made up of all 15 Justices and three Petty Benches each made up of 5 Justices. The cases are first assigned to one of the Petty Benches, and cases that involve constitutional questions are transferred to the Grand Bench for them to hear the case. http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/judiciary/0620system.html