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The Great Qing Draft Civil Code, the first Chinese code of civil law, has been a topic of historical debate. Some historians believe that it was largely based on German law, while others see Japanese law as the original model. The article argues that the Japanese Meiji Constitution was the blueprint for the Qing Draft Civil Code, based on the following points: 1) After the Meiji Restoration took place, Japan’s economy improved significantly and many Qing scholars studied in Japan; 2) Japanese experts were invited to China during the drafting of the law; 3) The most frequently printed foreign legal document during the Qing dynasty was the Japanese Civil Code; 4) While the Qing Draft Civil Code had some stylistic similarities with German laws, this was due to Japan’s integration of some aspects of German Law at the end of the 19th century; and 5) Many Chinese legal terms can be traced to the Japanese language.

This article details the historical development of the Japanese lawyers and the legal system. It first focuses on the role of the lawyer in premodern Japan. It was a principle of Japanese jurisprudence prior to the Restoration of 1867 that a litigant could not appear in court by representation. In certain exceptional circumstances, such as infancy, advanced age, or illness, this prohibition might be waived. The article then discusses the evolution of the Lawyers Law of 1893 with exploring problems of lawyer status which were evolved after it. Considering certain social injustice and inequality, the existing Law have been restructured and presented in a new form as the Lawyers Law of 1933. From 1893 to 1933 no complete revision of the Lawyers Law was undertaken, though several important changes were made. In common with many other phases of Japanese law, the Lawyers Law was revised during the American occupation.