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Section 4 Cooperation in Training and Legal System Development Support, etc. in Criminal Justice
1 Cooperation in training, etc. at UNAFEI
UNAFEI (United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders) was established and has been operated by the U.N. and the government of Japan since 1962 with the aim of providing criminal justice personnel in various countries, including Asia and the Pacific regions with training, and conducting research/surveys in accordance with an agreement made between the U.N. and the government of Japan.
UNAFEI has been providing international training, seminars for senior officials, and criminal justice support training on preventing corruption taking into consideration prior matters of the U.N. in criminal justice and needs of receiving countries, etc. This includes subject matter such as measures against transnational organized crimes, measures against corruption, and treatment of juvenile delinquents. Training courses for specific countries and regions are also being provided, including Seminars for Senior Criminal Justice Officials of the People’s Republic of China, Training Courses for a Juvenile Delinquent Treatment System in Kenya, Seminars on Criminal Justice in Central Asia, and Training Courses for the Revitalization of the Volunteer Probation Aide System in the Philippines. In addition, the Regional Seminar on Good Governance for Southeast Asian Countries has been held outside of Japan since 2007 (held in Thailand in 2007 and 2008 and scheduled to be held in the Philippines in 2009). In December 2008, senior officials from countries including China and the Republic of Korea were invited to Japan and a conference was held in cooperation with the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office to confirm active promotion of Good Governance measures after taking into consideration the results of the past two regional seminars. By June 2009, 4,000 or more criminal justice personnel (so-called alumni) from 120 or more countries, including Japan, had participated in these UNAFEI programs (Source: UNAFEI).
UNAFEI has been making the effort to establish and maintain a strong human resource network by providing booklets and e-mail magazines to these alumni and inviting alumni as visiting experts (instructors) for other types of training, etc. Many of the alumni have gone on to become Ministers of Justice, public prosecutor generals, Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, and other high-ranked officials in their respective countries. This has been a valuable asset for Japan in promoting international cooperation in criminal justice as the globalization of crime is progressing.
Control of crimes that seriously impact society, including transnational organized crime and bribery and appropriate/effective administration of criminal justice, have been a matter of great concern in developing countries with weak judicial systems. At the G8 Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting held in Tokyo in June 2008, the provision of capacity creation (ability enhancement) support to countries in need of assistance was commonly recognized as being important in the development of effective legal systems and law enforcement abilities against transnational organized crime and international terrorism, and the “G8 Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Declaration on Capacity Building Support” was therefore adopted. The roles that UNAFEI plays through proving training, etc. have therefore also become increasingly important.
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