Japan Jury Duty

There has been demonstrations going on due to the introduction of Jury Duty in Japan this July where citizens will be called upon to decide the fate of the prosecuted.
Folks who don't have a good reason not to attend when called upon will face fines up to 100,000 yen. Folks who are found to be giving false excuses face fines of up to 500,000 yen.

Folks who are against the jury duty system say that they don't want to decide whether people go to prison or get the death sentence.

The most interesting thing is that the government is using moe anime to promote the jury duty system which you can watch below.

These clips explain the system, who is who in the court and goes through some examples.

No moe anime is complete without sailor fuku girls.
The anime is called "Bokura no Saibanin Monogatari" or roughly translated as "Our Jury Story."

Screenshots from the anime below - quality is actually better than some of the crud now showing - and more educational too.

What do you think of all this? Should this be left to the courts or citizens? Do you have jury duty in your kingdom? Have you been and if so what is it like?

Some photos of a recent demonstration at webry with news from the following sources:-
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/kumamoto/news/20090522-OYT8T00089.htm
http://www.kahoku.co.jp/news/2009/05/20090522t73026.htm
http://www.47news.jp/CN/200905/CN2009050901000616.html