Virtual bilateral exchange with the Supreme Court of Japan
18 July 2023
On 18 July 2023, Lord Reed, President of the UK Supreme Court, and Lord Hodge, Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court, took part in a virtual bilateral exchange with Chief Justice Tokura and Justice Nagamine of the Supreme Court of Japan. This is part of a series of virtual bilateral meetings with judicial colleagues, globally, and the second meeting between the two Courts since January 2021.
The first topic of discussion was digitalisation. Chief Justice Tokura discussed the digitalisation of court proceedings in Japan and noted the challenges of adapting from the paper-based system which they are accustomed to. Lord Reed, in turn, spoke about the transition to digital papers during the pandemic, as well as the effect the Change Programme will have on the UK Supreme Court's effective use of technology.
The second area of discussion, led by Lord Hodge and Justice Nagamine, focused on the strengthening of judicial relations between the United Kingdom and Japan.
Chief Justice Tokura stated, "it is a great honour to have such an online meeting again."
Lord Reed said, "this has been an important meeting in the history of our Court. It has demonstrated the value of exchanging ideas and information with our Japanese colleagues. We should certainly repeat an event of this kind in the future."
