Capacity Building

Japan provides assistance that addresses legal and judicial system reform, local administration and capacity building of civil servants in various countries and regions. In particular, in the area of criminal justice, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) holds biannual international training courses and an annual international senior seminar every year for criminal justice practitioners from developing countries in cooperation with the Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment Offenders affiliated with the United Nations (UNAFEI) located in Japan. The topics of the international training courses include treatment of offenders, crime prevention and countermeasures against various crimes. The international senior seminars cover a wide range of criminal justice issues.

In addition to the aforementioned training courses and seminars, Japan provides various types of technical assistance tailored to the needs of specific countries through UNAFEI. Such assistance mainly consists of training courses and seminars both at UNAFEI and overseas locations. Areas of activities undertaken in recent years include: criminal justice response to corruption (multi-national, since 2000); strengthening the rule of law and good governance (Southeast Asia since 2007); reform and improvement of criminal justice systems (Nepal since 2013, Viet Nam since 2014); improvement of prison management (Myanmar since 2015); and promoting community-based treatment (Southeast Asia since 2015).

To date, more than 5,300 officials from 137 countries/regions have participated in the aforementioned programs by the UNAFEI, many of whom contribute to running and further developing their respective criminal justice systems at home.

Outreach

Japan has also been making consistent efforts in reaching out to the ICC's States Parties and its non-States Parties mainly in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2009 and 2010, Japan and the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) co-organized seminars on the ICC in India (2009) and Malaysia (2010) to share Japan's experience in accession to the Court including domestic legislation and to discuss current developments at the ICC. In 2011, Japan contributed to a regional meeting of legal experts co-organized by Malaysia, the ICC and the AALCO by sending its own expert. The meeting discussed various issues including the principle of complementarity.

Building on the aforementioned activities, in 2016, Japan held a seminar in the margins of the AALCO Annual Session on the issue of combating violent extremism and terrorism. With the participation of AALCO Member States from Asia and Africa, the seminar focused on the crucial role of criminal justice system and provided a forum where participating States shared experiences in dealing with the issue.