法科大学院 優秀な人材をどう集めるか

The Yomiuri Shimbun September 18, 2013
Nation’s law schools must improve for the good of the profession, society
法科大学院　優秀な人材をどう集めるか（9月17日付・読売社説）

If things are left as they are, talented young people may no longer be attracted to careers in law. The nation’s law schools, meant to be the core of efforts to foster legal professionals, have fallen into a critical situation.
　このままでは、優秀な人材が法曹界に集まらなくなるのではないか。
　法曹養成の中核である法科大学院が、危機的な状況に陥っている。

The number of people who passed this year’s national bar exam after graduating from law school stood at 1,929. The pass rate remains low. Hovering around 26 percent, it is a far cry from the 70-80 percent rate originally assumed.
　今年の司法試験で、法科大学院の修了生の合格者は１９２９人、合格率は約２６％と低迷を続けている。当初想定された７～８割という合格率には遠く及ばない。

In light of such a reality, students are becoming less interested in going to law school. The number of applicants for law school enrollment this spring has fallen to one-fifth of what it was at its peak.
　こうした現状から、学生の法科大学院離れは進む一方だ。入学志願者は減少し、今春はピーク時の５分の１に落ち込んだ。

The popularity of law departments at universities is also declining. At national and other public universities, the number of students applying to law departments has fallen by about 10 percent over the past two years.
　大学の法学部人気も低下しており、国公立大学では法学部の志願者がこの２年で約１割減った。

As one of the three branches of government depends on a strong pool of legal talent, the foundation of a state under the rule of law may be shaken if the number of young people who aspire to enter legal circles declines.
　三権の一角を担う法曹界を目指す若者が減れば、法治国家の根幹が揺らぎかねない。

The first law schools opened in 2004 to further judicial system reform by “fostering an ample source of legal professionals both in terms of quality and quantity.” The schools were initially expected to produce work-ready law practitioners equipped with specialized knowledge and legal analytical abilities.
　法科大学院は、「質・量ともに豊かな法曹を育てる」という司法制度改革の理念の下、２００４年に開校した。専門知識と法的分析力を備えた即戦力の実務家を育成することが期待された。

Yet as the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry broadly allowed many academic institutions to open law schools, as many as 74 law schools with varying levels of quality have opened. As a result, a number of schools had only single-digit numbers of their students pass the national exam for the year.
　ところが、文部科学省が広く参入を認めた結果、７４校が乱立し、司法試験の合格者数が１けたにとどまるところが続出した。

Weed out subpar schools

Next fiscal year, the education ministry is set to cut its subsidies to 18 law schools that have failed to produce strong results, as the pass rate of their students remains low. The cut is designed to urge these schools to integrate with other schools or leave the field altogether. Law schools that fail in fostering legal professionals must inevitably be weeded out.
　文科省は来年度、司法試験の合格率低迷など、実績を上げられない法科大学院１８校の補助金を減額する方針だ。統廃合を促す狙いがある。養成機能を果たせない法科大学院の淘汰(とうた)はやむを得ない。

Meanwhile, the number of people who passed the bar exam without graduating from law school has been increasing sharply. Such people become eligible to take the bar exam after passing a preliminary qualification test. This year, the number who succeeded surged to 120, nearly double last year’s figure.
　一方、法科大学院を修了せずに司法試験の受験資格を得られる「予備試験」経由者の合格が急増している。今年は前年の約２倍の１２０人を数えた。

The preliminary test system was introduced to open the way for people unable to enroll in law school for economic reasons to tackle the bar exam. Despite this purpose, many law school students used the preliminary exam to take and pass the bar exam without graduating from law school.
　予備試験は、経済的理由で法科大学院に通えない人にも司法試験に挑戦する道を開くために設けられた。にもかかわらず、今年の司法試験に合格した予備試験組には法科大学院在学生が目立つ。

If an increasing number of people use the preliminary test as a shortcut to pass the bar exam without completing their law school studies, the hollowing out of law schools will only accelerate.
　法科大学院で学ぶ過程を省く「近道」として予備試験を利用する人が増え続ければ、法科大学院の空洞化が進むだけだ。

If the law school system is to be maintained, it is necessary to review it, such as by allowing law school graduates to take the bar exam more often, so that students will become more willing to go on to law school.
　法科大学院制度を維持するなら、修了者に対し、司法試験の受験回数の制限を大幅に緩和するなど、学生が法科大学院に進みたいと思うような見直しが必要だ。

Needless to say, law schools, for their part, are asked to strive to improve their quality of education.
　無論、法科大学院にも教育の質向上の取り組みが求められる。

Furthermore, the current situation in which many of those who have passed the bar exam and become lawyers are unable to find jobs is serious.
　司法試験に受かり、弁護士になっても、働き口が見つからない状況も深刻だ。

It is naturally expected that students will tend to shy away from entering the legal profession as long as there is little prospect of employment.
将来の展望が開けないのでは、学生が法曹界を敬遠するのも無理はない。

The government and legal circles must discuss ways to expand the range of activities for lawyers by, for instance, expanding their job opportunities in local governments and private businesses as soon as possible.
　自治体や企業による雇用拡大など、弁護士の活動領域を広げる方策について、政府と法曹界は早急に検討すべきだ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 17, 2013)
（2013年9月17日02時11分  読売新聞）