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7 Transfer of sentenced persons
The Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons was adopted by the Council of Europe in 1983 and provides for the establishment of a system for transferring sentenced foreign nationals to their home country to serve their sentences there. In 2003 Japan acceded to the convention, and the Act on the Transnational Transfer of Sentenced Persons (Act No. 66 of 2002) was enforced as a national collateral act. In Asia, the Republic of Korea too acceded to the convention in 2005, thus making it possible to transfer sentenced persons between Japan and the Republic of Korea. In 2008, 48 sentenced persons were transferred from Japan (12 to the Netherlands, eight to the United Kingdom, eight to the Republic of Korea, seven to Canada, five to the United State of America, three to France, and one each to Israel, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Spain), while none were transferred to Japan (Source: The Correction Bureau, Ministry of Justice).
Furthermore, in order to transfer sentenced persons between Japan and countries that have not acceded to the convention, Japan signed its first bilateral treaty on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons with Thailand. Japan and China also reached an agreement to start negotiation towards the conclusion of a treaty.
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