Judicial assistance refers to cooperation between Japan and foreign countries in delivering documents or examining evidence in criminal trials. Judicial assistance is categorized into two cases: (1) judicial assistance provided by a foreign court or the Japanese Consul, etc. residing in a foreign country at the request of a Japanese court, and (2) judicial assistance provided by a Japanese court or the Consul, etc. of a foreign country residing in Japan at the request of a foreign court.
  In 2005, no request was made by a Japanese court to a foreign court for judicial assistance. In the same year, 14 requests were made by foreign courts to the Japanese courts for delivering documents and three requests for examining evidence, etc. (Source: The General Secretariat, Supreme Court).