In recent crime trends in Japan,the internationalization of crimes,as well as that of offenders,has been remarkable,as seen in the increase in offenses committed abroad and by visiting foreign national offenders.Consequently,there are a great number of cases that require international cooperation in the field of collecting evidence abroad,taking custody of offenders and extraditing those who have escaped abroad,criminal investigation and trial.
  International cooperation is indispensable for properly dealing with transnational drug trafficking,terrorism,and organized crimes committed by transnational organized crime groups,and various measures have been taken to strengthen international cooperation at the United Nations and summit meetings of leading countries.Recently,in addition to international cooperation in law enforcement,international cooperation has also been positively promoted to establish international standards(not limited to legal norms such as conventions)for harmonizing criminal justice systems of various countries.
  As the above-mentioned background,along with economic and social globalization,international transfer of human resources,goods,money and information has become facilitated by the progress in information and communication technology and transportation,which has caused the globalization of crimes.For instance,not only transfer of offenders,firearms and drugs across national borders and collusion with accomplices abroad have become easier,but also money laundering has become the same through the instant transfer of crime proceeds across national borders.Cybercrimes also have been committed in the use of the borderless cyberspace of the Internet.In order to take effective measures to deal with these modern crimes that are becoming more global in scale,it is insufficient for specific countries merely to take measures to prevent crimes in their own territories and also necessary to reduce those countries and regions in the world with lax regulations so as not to allow havens for offenders.Based on such recognition,international cooperation has been promoted since the1990s,with the aim of harmonizing criminal justice systems at various international forums such as the United Nations and summit meetings of leading countries.