2 Legal technical assistance

  Legal technical assistance includes support in preparing draft laws, the development of law enforcement systems, and human resource development of law experts to engage in such activities for developing countries, etc. Japan has been conducting legal technical assistance activities in developing Asian nations, etc. with the aim of establishing “rule of law” since 1994. Legal technical assistance is positioned as one of the ODA policies of the Japanese government and its importance was pointed out in the ODA Charter (revised version decided by cabinet in August 2003), with the importance of promoting legal technical assistance having been stipulated in the middle term policies of ODA (decided by the cabinet in February 2005). In addition, the Overseas Economic Cooperation Council cabinet held in January 2008, which the Ministry of Justice attended, confirmed that legal technical assistance is of great importance in firmly establishing rule of law in developing countries, environmental development for the continuous growth of developing countries, and securing compliance with global rules. Confirmation was made that the government will formulate a basic plan and systematically promote legal technical assistance in cooperation with related agencies and organizations, etc. Furthermore, the Concluding Declaration of the G8 Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting in June made in the same year also referred to capacity building support and stipulated the importance of technical assistance in the legal field, such as in the development of legal systems and basic laws and judicial training.
  Establishment of “rule of law” and the appropriate functioning of the legal system in developing countries will stabilize their politics, society itself, and the economy, and enable continuous development leading to regional stability/development. It is an essential prerequisite for the safety and development of Japan as international interdependency further deepens and globalization progresses in every aspect of human lives. This is undoubtedly the reason why the importance of legal technical assistance is very much being recognized today.
  The international cooperation department, the Research and Training Institute of the Ministry of Justice, which is specifically in charge of legal technical assistance within the Ministry of Justice, plays a key role in carrying out most of specific legal technical assistance activities within the framework of a technical cooperation project for developing countries implemented by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
  In the field of criminal justice, support for Vietnam and Laos has been in place that includes the formulation of a “Public Prosecutor Manual” and educational activities on it which aimed at improving both the practices and abilities of public prosecutors of the Public Prosecutor General in both countries. In FY 2007, activities, etc. aimed at improving the practices and abilities of judges and public prosecutors, etc. through analyzing the current situation with criminal trial practices to identify issues and provide measures for correcting them have been mainly implemented by public prosecutors dispatched as long-term experts by the international cooperation department within the Research and Training Institute of the Ministry of Justice in cooperation with domestic support organizations in a JICA “Technical Assistance for Legal and Judicial System Reform”. In FY 2008, in addition to continue promoting these practice improvement activities, training in preparation for establishing a “Criminology Research Center”, which the Office of the Public Prosecutor General of Vietnam plans to establish, has been conducted for the staff of the said Office invited to Japan. In addition, workshops aiming at drafting an act to amend Code of Criminal Procedure have been conducted with support for the second volume of the aforementioned “Public Prosecutor Manual” also being provided, etc.