| Abstract | |
| Survey Number | 0700 |
| Survey Title | Survey on Legal Aid Needs and the Utilization of Houterasu, 2008 |
| Depositor | Japanese Legal Support Center |
| Restriction of Use |
For detailed information, please refer to 'For Data Users' on the SSJDA website.
- Apply to SSJDA. SSJDA's approval is required. |
| Educational Purpose | Available for both research and instructional purposes. |
| Period of Data Use Permission | One year |
| Access to Datasets | Download |
| SSJDA Data Analysis | Not available |
| Summary |
As part of the justice system reforms in the 2000s, Japan Legal Support Center (Law Terrace) locations were established in April 2006 for the purpose of making it easier for citizens to obtain information and services needed to resolve legal problems. This survey was conducted for the purpose of helping the Japan Legal Support Center identify the needs of civil legal aid systems in Japanese society and to prepare and provide fundamental data to explore policies to enhance such systems. The survey had three survey subjects: general subjects, homeless people, and users of legal advice and assistance (free legal advice for persons lacking financial resources) from Law Terrace offices. Surveys were designed for each of these groups. |
| Data Type | quantitative research: micro data |
| Universe |
[General subject survey] Men and women aged 20 years and older in Japan [Homeless subject survey] Homeless people in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto (including those living in shelters) [User subject survey] Users of Law Terrace legal advice in Japan *See sampling procedure for details. |
| Unit of Observation | Individual |
| Sample Size |
[General subject survey] Valid responses: 1,636, valid response rate: 54.5% [Homeless subject survey] Number of responses: 265 (Tokyo: 136, Osaka: 104, Kyoto: 25) [User subject survey] Number of responses: 1,229 *Valid response rate was calculated only for general subject survey. |
| Date of Collection |
2008-09-12 ~ 2008-12-17 |
| Time Period |
2008 ~ 2008 |
| Spatial Unit |
Japan
tokyo
osaka
kyoto
[General subject survey] Japan [Homeless subject survey] Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto [User subject survey] 67 regional Law Terrace offices in Japan |
| Sampling Procedure |
Probability: Stratified
Probability: Multistage
Non-probability: Availability
[General subject survey] Two-stage stratified random sampling [Homeless subject survey] Surveyed homeless people were selected from people appearing at soup kitchens and volunteer activities to assist the homeless, and people at shelters were selected based on the number of people assigned to multiple cooperating facilities. [User subject survey] Users were selected from people visiting 67 regional Law Terrace offices nationwide to receive legal advice from October 20 to 24, 2008. |
| Mode of Data Collection |
Face-to-face interview
Self-administered questionnaire: Paper
[General subject survey] Face-to-face interview (by survey staff) [Homeless subject survey] Face-to-face interview (by members of cooperating organizations) [User subject survey] Questionnaires filled out |
| Investigator | Japan Legal Support Center, survey carried out by Shin Joho Center, Inc. |
| DOI | 10.34500/SSJDA.0700 |
| Sponsors (Funds) | |
| Related Publications (by the Investigator) | Please refer to the abstract in Japanese. |
| Related Publications (based on Secondary Analysis) | List of related publications (based on Secondary Analysis) |
| Documentation | [Questionnaire] |
| Major Survey Items |
[General subject survey] (1) Whether or not respondent has used legal advice of lawyers or judicial scriveners and number of times (2) Whether or not respondent has experience as party to a trial or arbitration and number of times (excluding workplace) (3) Whether or not respondent has observed trials and number of times (excluding workplace) (4) Whether or not respondent acquainted with lawyers or judicial scriveners and relationship with respondent (5) Legal problems (last 5 years from 2004 to 2008) - Legal problem experience (28 items) - Most important legal problems, consultants, order consulted - Reasons for not seeking consultation - Negotiators (14 items) - Civil arbitration and civil trial results, outcome, justness - Legal problem resolution status, justness of results - Whether or not arbitration or trial needed - Intention to go into arbitration or to trial in future - Reasons for not seeking arbitration or trial (6) Welfare problems (last 5 years from 2004 to 2008) - Welfare problem experience (18 items) - Most important welfare problems, consultants, order consulted - Negotiators (16 items) - Reasons for not negotiating - Welfare problem resolution status, justness of results (7) Law Terrace free legal advice - Familiarity with free legal advice, how respondent found out about the service (15 items) (8) Intention to use free legal advice, etc. - Intention to use free legal advice, reasons for being passive, reasons for being active (9) Law Terrace legal expense loan system - Familiarity with legal expense loan system, how respondent found out about the system (15 items) (10) Intention to use legal expense loan system, etc. - Intention to use legal expense loan system, reasons for being passive, reasons for being active (11) Dispute amount when using free legal advice (12) Dispute amount when using legal expense loan system (13) Face items - Gender - Age - Occupation and employment status - Industry - Highest level of educational attainment - Annual income - Whether or not respondent has a spouse or partner - Total annual income of respondent and spouse [Homeless subject survey] (1) Whether or not respondent has used legal advice of lawyers or judicial scriveners and number of times (2) Welfare/legal problems (last 5 years from 2004 to 2008) - Welfare and legal problem experience (18 items) - Most important legal problems, consultants, order consulted - Reasons for not seeking consultation - Negotiators (16 items) - Legal problem resolution status, justness of results - Whether or not arbitration or trial needed - Intention to go into arbitration or to trial in the future - Reasons for not seeking arbitration or trial (3) Law Terrace free legal advice - Familiarity with free legal advice, how respondent found out about the service (13 items) (4) Intention to use free legal advice, etc. - Intention to use free legal advice, reasons for being passive, reasons for being active (5) Law Terrace legal expense loan system - Familiarity with legal expense loan system, how respondent found out about the system (13 items) (6) Intention to use legal expense loan system, etc. - Intention to use legal expense loan system, reasons for being passive, reasons for being active - Familiarity with monthly loan repayment system, intention to use - Familiarity with loan repayment exemption system, intention to use (7) Face items - Gender - Age - Highest level of education attainment - Average monthly income for last three months [User subject survey] (1) Details of legal consultation (26 items) (2) Consultation prior to using Law Terrace, consultants (3) Negotiators (14 items) (4) Law Terrace - How respondent found out about it - Hesitation prior to use, reasons thereof - Reasons for seeking consultation (5) Attitude toward consultation (6) Actions after consultation - Future action (ask for assistance from lawyer, etc./resolve personally/seek second opinion, etc.) - Intention to request the person who provided consultation this time (7) Law Terrace legal expense loan system - Familiarity with legal expense loan system, how respondent found out about it (15 items) - Intention to use legal expense loan system, reasons for being passive, reasons for being active - Dispute amount when using legal expense loan system (8) Experience with the law and relationship with legal specialists - Whether or not respondent has experience studying the law - Whether or not respondent has experience with legal advice, number of times - Whether or not respondent has experience with trials and arbitration, number of times - Whether or not acquainted with lawyers or judicial scriveners, relationship thereof (9) Face items - Gender - Age - Occupation, employment status, and industry - Highest level of educational attainment - Presence of dependents and number thereof - Type of residence - Annual personal income - Whether or not respondent has a spouse or partner - Total annual income of respondent and spouse |
| Date of Release | 2011/07/07 |
| Topics in CESSDA |
Click here for details Legislation and legal systems Specific social services: use and availability Social behaviour and attitudes |
| Topics in SSJDA | Law |
| Version | 1 ： 2011-07-07 |
| Notes for Users | Variable and value labels are written in Japanese. |