(1) Enactment of the Offenders Rehabilitation Act (Act No. 88 of 2007)

  There were two basic acts for rehabilitation, namely the Offenders Prevention and Rehabilitation Act (Act No.142 of 1949) and the Act for Probationary Supervision of Persons under Suspension of Execution of Sentence (Act No.58 of 1954), and upon sorting out and integrating the two acts by making clear the purpose of rehabilitation shared by the two acts that repeat offenses by offenders should be prevented, delinquency by delinquent juveniles should be eliminated, and these persons should be helped to become self-supporting and reform/rehabilitate themselves, the Rehabilitation Act was enacted on June 8, 2007.
  This act will be enforced within not more than 1 year of the promulgation date (15^th of the same month) excluding the provisions concerning the involvement of crime victims mentioned below.
  The contents of this act are as follows.
 a. Sorting out and enhancing conditions of supervision in probation/parole supervision
  (1) In regard to the legal nature of conditions of supervision, it was made clear that these conditions are legal norms whereby revocation of parole, etc. can result in case of violation;
  (2) In order to enhance probation/parole supervision, as the general conditions of supervision, all probationers and parolees are obliged to have interview with probation officers and volunteer probation officers and tell them the facts showing their actual living conditions. Also, in regard to special conditions of supervision which are specified for each probationer/parolee, the conditions which can be specified as special conditions of supervision have been categorized and listed;
  (3) Setting, changing and cancelling of special conditions of supervision have been made possible according to the situation in the implementation of probation/parole supervision.
 b. Improving environmental adjustment for the reintegration into society
  In order to make smooth the reintegration into society and the commencement of parole supervision, the act provides that in regard to prison parolees and juvenile training school parolees, adjustment of living environment must be made when its necessity is recognized, while in regard to offenders given suspension of execution of sentence, the director of a probation office can play a leading role in starting to adjust the living environment and it provides for the contents and methods of adjustment.
 c. Involvement of crime victims
  The following systems have been introduced as the measures to be implemented within two years under the Basic Plan for Crime Victims, etc. (Cabinet decision of December 2005) (1) A system to hear opinions, etc. from crime victims, etc. in examination on parole, and (2) A system to tell an offender under supervision the feelings, etc. of a crime victim, etc. in order to conduct supervision to deepen his/her repentance.
 d. Others
  Preparation, etc. of the provisions concerning division of roles between a probation officer and a volunteer probation officer.

(2) Enhancing probation/parole supervision

  The following measures will be promoted in order to enhance probation/parole supervision: implementation of effective treatment for persons who need intensified probation/parole supervision; making it obligatory to receive a sexual offenders treatment program, etc.; strengthening the grasp of daily life through making it obligatory to have interview, etc.; implementation of an atonement guidance program; strengthening of probationary supervision for offenders given suspension of execution of sentence; and strengthening of how to deal with probationers/parolees whose whereabouts are unknown; and other measures (see Part 7, Chapter 5, Section 3 and 4).

(3) Smoother collaboration between probation officers and volunteer probation officers

  In each probation office, an urgent communication system in after hours outside normal work hours (during the night and holidays) has been prepared and a substitute probation officer has been designated in addition to the probation officer in charge in each probation district in order to improve and strengthen the counseling/support system at the probation office so that the office can properly deal with referrals, counseling, etc. from volunteer probation officers concerning the treatment activities in probation/parole supervision cases, environment adjustment cases, and others.

(4) Promotion of comprehensive employment support measures for released inmates, etc.

  The Ministry of Justice is promoting employment support measures for probationers/parolees, etc., such as a guarantor system, seminars, and tours of business establishments, workshops for hands-on experiences at workplaces, and trial employment projects in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Also, probation offices are making efforts to find new cooperative employers by broadly approaching relevant institutions/entities in local areas, economic organizations, etc.
  The implementation status on the employment support conducted in 2006 was 1,087 cases for the guarantor system, 98 cases for seminars and tours of business enterprises, and 24 cases of workshops for hands-on experiences at workplaces, and 116 cases for trial employment projects.

(5) Promotion of the plan for the Center for Promotion of Self-Support Rehabilitation

  “The Center for Promotion of Self-Support Rehabilitation,” in which those parolees who are difficult or inappropriate to accept at a halfway house will be provided with intense treatment and enhanced employment support in order to promote their reform and rehabilitation while staying at the national facility, will be established in three locations across the country.
  Also, one facility where treatment through agriculture and employment support to agriculture is implemented for juvenile training school parolees, etc. (Numata-cho Employment Support Center) starts its operation in FY2007.

(6) Enhancement of organization and system

  A new system has been introduced at probation offices and regional parole boards across the country since April 2007.
  At probation offices, many of those who used to be section chiefs become chief probation officers or deputy chief probation officers who make approval to case treatment, give instructions to staff members, and take charge of important supervision cases him/herself as so-called a player cum manager. Through this reorganization, the treatment section intends to enhance its ability by increasing the number of probation officers in charge of treatment.