Hello Karakura! Ryuijin Kotagawa here with a new report! Today I am interviewing our very competent Attorney General Goemon Asogi about some misconceptions and behind-the-scenes information about the Karakura government! Hopefully, you learn as much as I did today.
QUESTION #1 -
My first question asked our subject if Karakura was actually neglected by Japan, which is a common misconception.
Mr. Asogi's response went as so:
"Whoa, hitting us with the difficult questions first, eh? It's hard to say. I'm not particularly privy to the communications between the mayor's office and the mainland's government. That said, I hear they can be difficult when they are contacted. However, in reality, Karakura is actually politically cut off from the mainland. We do keep in contact with the mainland, though, obviously."
QUESTION #2-
For my second question, I asked Asogi about trials and what goes into him. Most normal people, such as I, don't know much about this as it is behind closed doors.
The Attorney General stated the following about civil cases:
"For civil cases, it usually goes like this: Initially, a plaintiff or multiple plaintiffs file a complaint with an attorney, for which they'll have to pay a fee of 50,000 yen. Given enough evidence, and reasonable claims to salvage any damages caused, the chief judge accepts the case. Should it be denied, then that's basically it. But we do assume it goes to trial, right? In that case, the chief-judge notifies the judges to let them know that they can take the case and thus be in charge of scheduling, convening, deliberating, and adjudicating matters. Once the judge in charge of the case has scheduled it with the plaintiff(s) and defendant(s), they reach out to me; Whereupon I notify the lawyers, to ask who can make the trial on that particular date. Once that's done and dusted, the lawyers will be assigned to the case, and they'll get their time to investigate and prepare their case accordingly. Alternatively, the counsels for the plaintiff and defense can meet up to discuss settlement talks, depending of course on their clients' consent."
The Attorney General followed up with this on criminal trials:
"Let's say the police detains someone, and they plead not guilty, justified self-defense or even insanity; In which case, the arresting officer notifies the chief-judge, who, once again, either accepts the case or denies it. The judges schedule the trial with the arresting officer and the defendant. The main difference here is that the complaining party in criminal cases is the prosecution – and they represent the people of the state. This means that the arresting officer is something of a... Star witness in criminal trials."
QUESTION #3 -
My third and final question for Asogi was why there are multiple governors working under the supervision of the mayor, unlike in other countries where this power dynamic is reversed.
Mr Asogi's simple explanation was as so:
As far as I know, the Karakurans just... elected four people and gave them the role of Governor. It was just how they decided to make the hierarchy. Not much to it.
Despite the fact that the last answer did not sate my lust for knowledge, there you have it folks! Hopefully, that answers your questions about some of the more confusing and complicated parts of the government. Cya folks!
Call the news hotline at '020-980-4487' if you have suggestions for any future news reports!