裁判
saiban[sa̠ibã̠ɴ]
The Japanese phrase for 'trial' is 裁判 (saiban).
裁判 refers to a formal legal trial taking place in a courtroom or a judicial setting. If you want to say someone is 'put on trial', you can use the phrase 裁判にかける. To express that someone 'undergoes' or 'receives' a trial, use 裁判を受ける.
How do you pronounce it?
saiban
Did you know?
- A 'trial' in Japan has a conviction rate of over 99 percent, which has led to the phrase 裁判 being associated more with sentencing than with determining innocence.
- The word 裁判 is composed of the characters for 'judge' and 'cut', implying that a legal decision is a way to 'cut' or decide a dispute.
- Japanese law uses a unique system called 裁判員制度 where ordinary citizens serve as 'lay judges' who decide both the guilt and the sentence, unlike the US jury system which primarily decides guilt.
Examples in context
- 彼女は夫をころした容疑で裁判にかけられた。She went on trial charged with murdering her husband.This sentence is useful for learning how to use 裁判 when describing someone being put on trial.Tatoeba #86932 by mookeee, translation #316778 by mamat
- 彼の裁判は公正に行われました。His trial was conducted fairly.
- 彼女は法廷で有罪を宣告されました。She was convicted in the courtroom.
- この事件の公判は一ヶ月後に延期されました。The trial for this case has been postponed to next month.
- その裁判は来週始まります。Sono saiban wa raishū hajimarimasu.That trial will begin next week.
- 裁判の結果を待っています。Saiban no kekka o matte imasu.I am waiting for the result of the trial.
Example conversation
Two colleagues are discussing a news report about a legal case.
- 健太 Kentaニュースで見た裁判はどうなったの？Nyūsu de mita saiban wa dō natta no?What happened to the trial you saw on the news?
- 美咲 Misakiまだ裁判は続いています。Mada saiban wa tsuzuite imasu.The trial is still ongoing.
- 健太 Kenta判決が出るまで時間がかかりそうだね。Hanketsu ga deru made jikan ga kakari sō da ne.It looks like it will take a while until the verdict is released.
- 美咲 Misakiそうですね、慎重に進めているようです。Sō desu ne, shinchō ni susumete iru yō desu.That's true, it seems they are proceeding cautiously.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 裁判, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
