RESEARCH PLAN

The Research's Principal Structure

This research takes up as its main focus the necessary elements needed to improve the effectiveness of national legal and court procedures in relation to business disputes. In order to achieve this main objective, our research consists of the following components

The gathering of and exchange of information concerning foreign business disputes and other individual law fields

In transnational civil legal proceedings, the most important legal information is the information about national legal procedures. The key components of our research are: the collection and analysis of precise data about national courts and legal proceedings in relation to their basis in their own unique judicial systems and proceedings in order to create effective solutions for transnational business disputes. Also, following on from this, it is not necessary to state that it is also essential that we research and collect legal data about various current issues in relation to the field of substantive law. However, traditionally the main focus and structure of legal research has been to merely conduct referential research and investigation, when gathering data or conducting individual research, which meant that the research was limited by the researcher's language ability and by the essentially narrow scope of the researcher's individual field or personal interests. Moreover, with the aim of collecting data about our own country's legislation, often foreign legal systems have been researched, however, the information that was sought has been gained essentially through dispatched workers or the cooperation of researchers and has been collected and analyzed in an extremely short period. Usually it is necessary to focus our attention on the functions and roles the legal system fulfills and analyze them as part of the whole system and the meaning they hold, and thus base our research not solely on the articles of law, but also on a complete understanding of that country's whole legal system. However in Japan this kind of basic comparative legal research has not been conducted effectively. As a result of this, not only in Japan, but also globally, the fact is that currently there has been no research, analysis or even data collection related to national legal procedures or the idea of creating a united approach to improving the effectiveness of transnational business dispute resolution, both of which are quickly becoming major concerns. However, amidst the current rapidly developing globalization and legalization phenomena in Japan, the issues of researching effective solution strategies for transnational business disputes and creating a new research system in this common, international field are becoming an urgent matter. Through this research, we hope to create a new methodology, taking into account previous research and what we have learned from it.
The most pressing issue which this current work needs to address is to create and enact a scheme for investigation and research based upon mutual understanding and common awareness. Through continuing to address shared and relevant themes and exchanging information regularly, via the creation of a network of scholars from each country, who will address analysis methods, research, legal data collection or comparative law through reference materials of scholars in specific Japanese legal fields.
In order for us to carry out this research, it is essential that we adopt specific measures in regards to how we will administer and conduct our research in reality.
It is necessary for us to adopt measures which will allow us to conduct discussions and create a network of scholars on an international scale, who can exchange data they collect about law in their respective countries globally. In order to enable us to achieve these aims, it is essential that we establish appropriate research facilities. These facilities are:
1. To establish Nagoya University as the main center for our research. This center is planned to fulfill the role of being the centre point for our research by conducting research, managing information and managing this research. There will be a researcher who specializes in transnational business litigation, an I.T. staff member and a research assistant based at this center.
2. Also, we will create a satellite research center to collect information and maintain communication in Europe. Specifically, we will establish a small research center in Freiburg in Germany, which will mainly fulfill the role of collecting Europe related data, maintaining contacts and supporting the communication network.
As the European countries have varied histories and unique legal systems, there was considerable apprehension about the ability of a Japan based center to sufficiently fulfill the requirements of the planned research and gather relevant data. Also it would be difficult for such an office to manage and administer European matters directly. Luckily, due to the cooperation of numerous researchers at Freiburg University in the past, it has been relatively easy to acquire data about the various European countries and it is also imaginable that we will be able to create an effective network of scholars. At this research center, we will place a young, German researcher, who will continue receiving the advice of researchers at Freiburg University and maintain regular detailed contact with the Nagoya university center in order to proceed with the research. Also, as part of the adoption of I.T. in research at the Graduate School of Law at Nagoya University, we will introduce and develop audio-visual conferencing systems for meetings and lectures in both these centers. Thus, we will not only be able to exchange information routinely, but it will also be considerably easier to communicate with European based researchers.

The Dissemination and International Appraisal of data related to Japanese Business Disputes

For the purpose of increasing the effectiveness of transnational business dispute resolution, it is extremely insufficient to simply collect and analyze legal information in various legal fields related to cases in various countries here in Japan. Moreover, it is essential that we create a system to foster mutual understanding through comparisons of national legal systems and contribute sufficient information about our own civil court systems and substantive law systems for foreign legal scholars. Also, this would lead us to discover things which we tended to overlook due to the work of foreign scholars, who would compare our national systems and evaluate ours from a more objective viewpoint. Fundamentally, specific information about Japanese laws, courts and our legal system has not been known outside Japan. This was a significant obstacle for our corporations when they were engaged in business abroad. That is to say, as a result of our laws and court systems not being known abroad in this way, there was a phenomenon of corporations avoiding applying Japanese law or avoiding using Japanese law, because it was felt they could not predict the results of using the system or worried about possible risks in using the Japanese judicial and legal systems. Through conducting research and analysis from a general perspective, we can make breakthroughs in the current situation by seeing the Japanese court system from an international perspective, contribute specific information about the Japanese substantive law system in relation to business abroad and learn through understanding the differences between our legal systems and others, which will have an effect on the effectiveness of conflict resolution. For example, the simplest example we can give is that in Japan's civil courts oral questioning of witnesses is emphasized. In Japanese civil law it is even possible to make a contract without the requirement of written documents, but base it solely on the wills of both parties, thus although in practice there are a considerable amount of written contract produced, their validity is extremely vague and to confirm their validity witness testimony is used extensively. In contrast with this in France, when making important contracts such as real estate contracts not only a written document, but also the witness of a public notary is required, which means that disputes over contract creation and so on are relatively low, as the contract's content is final and decisive. Therefore, it can be seen that by looking at more than just substantive or procedural law, and by focusing on the actual system, we can understand the reality of the system.
Thus we will hold a symposium once a year abroad to study the Japanese legal system from a comparative perspective with the aim of fostering understanding of our legal system in many countries, conducting comparative research for mutual understanding, and establishing a framework for realizing effective transnational business dispute mediation. These symposiums will focus on the European countries which at present are unfamiliar with the Japanese system.

National Statutory Law Translation and Exchange

In order to create an effective system for resolving transnational business disputes the fundamental need is to share national information about legal procedures and related substantive law, and to make this information easily accessible to litigants and courts. To achieve this aim, we should try to at least translate each country's national civil law into English and exchange this translated information between countries. However, at present such an organized system has not been established here in Japan, yet alone on a global level. Especially in Japan, this kind of project has been carried out at a fragmented, individual level and there have been problems with the quality of such work and thus its use in actual legal work is extremely difficult. Thus in the light of current circumstances, to achieve the stated aims of this research we will collect essential information in order to create a more effective framework for transnational business conflict resolution and promote the translation of national civil law.
The research's civil law editing project will continue to promote and work on creating a network which will translate civil codes, starting with Asian countries on which there is currently a lack of information. Currently, in several Asian countries there has been a shift to market economics and accordingly there have been large scale reforms of the justice systems and necessary overhauls of national civil codes. These countries, as part of the larger Asian economic market, are extremely important to Japan, not only in a legal sense, but also to Japanese business. It is thus essential that we conduct research on these countries from a perspective different to Eurocentric research, in order to cope with disputes that arise when engaging in business in these countries. Unfortunately, translations of civil law and basic information necessary to achieve our aims are currently insufficient.
Luckily, for a long time the Graduate School of Law at Nagoya University has been engaged in projects supporting legal reforms in these countries and in providing legal education for legislators and researchers from these countries. Thus, it is relatively easy for us to acquire information concerning new trends in these countries due to the work of researchers previously engaged in this project and their work in editing civil codes. It is fully possible for us to continue in our efforts to translate national civil codes and create a network of legal scholars.
Dr. Yoshiharu Matsuura, as a contributor to this research, will move forward in developing and maintaining technologies for such a network.

Research Methodology

We will proceed with studying international legal procedures as the main focus of our research in order to realize effective methods of resolving transnational business disputes.

In regards to the rapid development of legal orders in each country concerning various problems in international business, in which actual practices have developed markedly, while also recognizing the necessity of continuing with research that will allow a comprehensive understanding in each legal field, we must also realize the limits of data, literature and research that have been conducted previously. Rather, it is essential that we create a system that will enable us to exchange information regularly and communicate effectively through a network of scholars in several countries in order to gain data about the actual situation of legal matters in each country. Our research is grounded in this basic aim.

The Execution of this Research

The overriding aim of this research is to create a network of legal scholars who can exchange information and their research in order to improve the effectiveness of transnational business dispute resolution and to create an international network by which actual legal information can be exchanged systematically. In order to achieve these aims, we must persevere in widening the network of legal scholars as much as possible and seek the cooperation of as many scholars as possible both within Japan and abroad.

Nagoya University Research Center

With Dr. Masanori Kawano as our lead research representative, this research center will continue to plan and administer the research as a whole. To enable us to pursue our research aims, we will establish a system allowing us to proceed in a definite way by employing a research staff member who specializes in civil procedures, a systems engineer responsible for handling any inevitable technological problems which will arise from communicating with foreign countries, and an administrative support staff member. Also, we will operate a research group led by Nagoya University's Dr. Yoshiharu Matsuura (a major contributor to our research) to create a system to translate national civil codes.

Research Contributors

For us to achieve our aims of collecting and exchanging information on national legal systems and to consider matters concerning international business law in closely related legal fields, we have asked the following researchers for their cooperation. These are the basic fields related to business disputes, but we hope to expand the network of scholars if and when it becomes necessary:

• Masanobu Kato, Nagoya University Graduate School of Law: Contract Law
• Ryo Kobayashi, Nagoya University Graduate School of Law: European Corporations
• Masafumi Nakahigashi, Nagoya University Graduate School of Law: North American Corporations
• Hajime Wada, Nagoya University Graduate School of Law: Corporations and Labor Disputes
• Ikuo Sugawara, Nagoya University Graduate School of Law: Court Psychology and Sociology
• Koji Ono, Nagoya University Graduate School of Law: The Legalization of Society and changes in the Political Process
• Yoshiharu Matsuura, Nagoya University Graduate School of Law, Leader of the Civil Law Translation Network Project

Foreign Contributors

The success of this research depends heavily on the contributions of legal scholars in other countries. This research's most important step is to create a network of legal scholars, starting with the following:

• Professor Dr. Stuerner, Germany, University of Freiburg
• Professor Dr. Leipold, Germany, University of Freiburg
• Professor Dr. Blaurock, Germany, University of Freiburg
• Professor Dr. Frederique Ferrand, France, University of Lyon
• Professor Mr. Andrews, United Kingdom, University of Cambridge
• University of Lund, Law Department, Sweden
• Professor Dr. Murray, Harvard University, U.S.A.
• Wisconsin University, Law School, U.S.A.
• Legal Data Research Institute, Cornell University, U.S.A.

RESEARCH PLAN

• Preparations prior to project application
• Research Plan