In Japan, Justice Is Not Only Blind, It Holds a Stopwatch

See the article: In Japan, Justice Is Not Only Blind, It Holds a Stopwatch

Japan adopted the statute of limitations on murder during the Meiji Restoration when it was desperately trying to catch up with the West in the late 19th century. Convinced that it could not become a modern nation without Western laws, Japan first adopted France's legal system, then switched to the German model because France was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War, said Morikazu Taguchi, a professor at Waseda University's law school in Tokyo.

"If it was said that advanced countries had it," Mr. Taguchi said, "it became an absolute must."

We have folks here on the Supreme Court who think that, too.

It was widely believed that Germany had the most enlightened, progressive, and liberal laws on the planet. Power there was centralized, society secularized, and military prowess emphasized. But within decades, both Germany and Japan were reduced to ashes.

Conservative and traditional is good. I've always had a higher regard for the old monarchies in Europe over their Modern republican counterparts. Extreme governmental changes inevitably lead to high bodycounts.