At the United Nations(UN), various activities are now underway with a view to reducing human and material losses due to crime and its impact on social and economic development, as well as promoting the enforcement of international standards and regulations on criminal justice.
  The UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, approved at a UN General Assembly in 1950, is an international body engaged in policy proposals and opinion exchange in all areas of criminal justice. Every five years, the Commission holds Congresses on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, the first of which was held in 1955. The Vienna Congress in April 2000 was the 10th session. Numerous standards, rules, and resolutions have been adopted by these Congresses, including the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Inmates(at the 1st Congress in 1955), the UN Standard Minimum Rules on the Operation of Juvenile Justice (7th Congress, 1985), and the UN Standard Minimum Rules on Non-Imprisonment Measures (8th Congress,1990). These standards, rules, and resolutions are finally adopted or approved by the UN General Assembly or the Economic and Social Council, and all countries are recommended to enforce them.
  Meanwhile, as a functional committee under the umbrella of the Economic and Social Council, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice was set up in 1992,its 9th session being held in Vienna in 2000. This Commission assists policy decisions in the criminal justice sector of the UN. Japan was elected as a member state of this Commission at its inception.
  As countermeasures against narcotics and drug-related crime, multilateral conventions have been adopted by the UN and subsequently ratified by Japan, including the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 (Treaty No.22 of 1964), the Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971 (Treaty No.7 of 1990), and the UN Convention against the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988 (Treaty No.6 of 1992). In 1991, the UN International Drug Control Program(UNDCP)was created to take responsibility for coordinating all UN activities on drug control, promoting the enforcement of related treaties, organizing international drug control, and so on. Moreover, in June 1998, a special session of the UN General Assembly on the world drug problem was held, and various declarations and resolutions were adopted. These included countermeasures against money laundering connected with narcotics and other drug trafficking, and the promotion of judicial assistance.
  Furthermore, international efforts have also evolved in the areas of international organized crime and acts of terrorism in recent years. In the former, an inter-governmental Ad Hoc Committee was set up by the UN with a view to drawing up a Draft Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and 3 protocols on firearms, illegal migrants, and trafficking in women and children. This Committee is proceeding apace with its deliberation on the Convention, targeting adoption in the year 2000. In July, it finalized its first draft of the Convention proper, and is now deliberating on the related protocols. As for terrorism countermeasures, meanwhile, in December 1997 the
International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings was adopted by the UN General Assembly. This Convention incorporates, among others, provisions for outlawing acts of detonating explosives and other lethal devices in public places, etc. , and the extradition of suspects. Japan signed the Convention in April 1998. In December 1999, the
International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, including mandatory criminalization of the financing of terrorists, etc. , was adopted by the UN General Assembly.
  In September 1997, meanwhile, Japan joined the Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection, a convention on the prevention of terrorism that had yet to be adopted by the UN. This was followed in April 1998 by ratification of the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation, supplementary to the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, drawn up in Montreal on September 23rd, 1971; the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation;and the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf.
  Apart from these, in July 1998 the Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted at a Summit of Foreign Ministers in Rome. This had the aim of establishing a permanent international criminal court for prosecuting the criminal liability of individuals who have committed crimes such as genocide and war crimes. Japan sits on the Establishment Preparatory Committee.
  Again, the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, which sets out to criminalize acts of corruption against foreign public officials in international trade, extradite criminals, and mutually assist in investigation and prosecution, was adopted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1997. It took effect from February 1992, and has been accepted by Japan.
  Moreover, the
International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO)has been established to promote cooperation in international investigation, arrest and extradition of criminals, etc. , with the police organizations of each country as its functional members. Though a separate international organization from the UN, the cooperative relationship between the two is growing ever closer. For example, the ICPO has formed cooperative agreements with the UN and has also been granted observer status at UN General Assemblies.