2 Flow of procedure at a family court

(1) Investigation by a family court and classification by a juvenile classification home
  After receiving a case, the family court must investigate the case and may order a family court probation officer to interview the juvenile, guardians and witnesses, and to conduct other necessary investigations. When necessary for conducting a hearing, the family court, making a disposition of protective detention, may require classification on predisposition by transferring the juvenile in question to a juvenile classification home.
  The juvenile classification home detains the transferred juvenile and conducts classification on the predisposition of the juvenile based on expertise in medicine, psychology, pedagogy, and sociology, etc.
  If the family court determines, in light of the results of the investigation, that measures under the Child Welfare Act are appropriate, it has to refer the case to the prefectural governor or the director of a child guidance center. The family court terminates a case by making a decision of dismissal without a hearing if it determines that it is impossible or inappropriate to subject the juvenile to a hearing. If the court determines that a hearing should be conducted on the juvenile, it makes a decision to commence such hearing.

(2) Hearing by a family court
  Individual hearings at family courts are generally performed by a single judge. However, if it was decided by a collegiate court body that a collegiate court body should perform the hearing, a collegiate court body of judges then handles the hearing. Hearings at family courts must be closed to the public. However, in accordance to the Act for Partial Amendment to the Juvenile Act promulgated on June 18, 2008, attendance may be permitted upon request from victims, etc. to attend the hearing, if deemed appropriate and not likely to disturb the healthy development of the juvenile while taking into consideration the juvenile's age and mental/physical condition, for cases related to any offense committed by a juvenile offender aged 14–19 or a juvenile of illegal behavior aged 12 or older in which the victim was killed or injured through the offender's intentional criminal act or negligence in the pursuit of social activities (in the case of injury, limited to serious injuries endangering the life of the victim). This act will be enforced on a day specified in a Cabinet Order and within a period not exceeding six months of the date of promulgation but excluding any provisions (June 18, 2008).
  The family court may decide to have a public prosecutor attend the hearing if it is deemed necessary for a public prosecutor to become involved in the procedure of the hearing for the fact-finding of delinquency related to any offense committed by a juvenile offender aged 14–19 in which the victim was killed through the offender's intentional criminal act or any other offense committed by a juvenile offender that is punishable by death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment with or without work for a statutory minimum period of two years or more. In these cases, if the juvenile does not have an attorney as an attendant, the family court must appoint an attorney as a court-appointed attendant to the juvenile. In addition, for the cases given above related to an intentional criminal act causing death, etc. committed by juvenile offenders aged 14–19 or juveniles of illegal behavior aged 12 or older, the family court has the authority to assign an attorney as a court-appointed attendant to the juvenile in any case where the juvenile is being detained at a juvenile classification home under protective detention and does not have an attorney as an attendant.
  The family court may also place the juvenile under tentative supervision, which is to prompt a family court probation officer to directly supervise the juvenile for a certain period of time, if it deems such supervision necessary to determine appropriate protective measures.
  If the hearing leads the court to determine that it is impossible or unnecessary to place the juvenile under protective measures, it has to make a decision of dismissal after the hearing. If the family court determines that measures under the Child Welfare Act are appropriate, it refers the case to the prefectural governor or the director of a child guidance center. When the case involves an offense punishable by death penalty or an offense punishable by imprisonment with or without work, the family court refers the case to a public prosecutor if it determines that criminal disposition is appropriate. Also, as for cases in which victims were killed through intentional criminal acts that were committed by a juvenile at the age of 16 or over, the family court shall refer such a case to a public prosecutor, except for cases where measures other than criminal dispositions are considered more appropriate in light of the motives and type of offense, situations after the offense, the personality, age, behavior and environment of the juvenile and other conditions. In cases other than these, the family court has to make decision of protective measures such as a disposition of probation, commitment to a support facility for development of self-sustaining capacity, or a children's home (limited for those under 18), or commitment to a juvenile training school (limited for those aged generally 12 or over).
  The juvenile, or his/her legal representative or attendant, may make an appeal against the disposition of a protective measure within two weeks to a high court, only on the grounds of a violation of any act or regulation that affects the disposition, a grave error in the fact-finding process that influences the disposition, or serious unfairness of the disposition (However, an attendant must not make an appeal against the clearly expressed will of the guardians who appointed the attendant). In cases where it is decided to involve a public prosecutor in a case, the prosecutor may request that a high court accept the case as an appeal case against the disposition to take or not to take protective measures, within two weeks, only on the grounds of a violation of any act or regulation that affects the disposition or a grave error in fact-finding.