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4 Cooperation / sharing information with the police
(1) Provision of information in regard to the release of inmates, etc.
The Ministry of Justice has been providing information on inmates who committed certain offenses to the National Police Agency as part of a cooperative effort to ensure that the police can prevent offenses and rapidly respond when an offense has been committed.
Since June 2005, the wardens of penal institutions have been notifying the National Police Agency of the scheduled date of release, date of admission, and planned residence upon release, etc. of any inmates who committed forcible indecency, rape, abduction or kidnapping for the purpose of performing an obscene act, and rape on the occasion of robbery against victims younger than 13. This is done around one month prior to the scheduled date of release. As of May 31, 2009, the total number of offenders subject to this information provision was 610 (Source: The Correction Bureau, Ministry of Justice).
In addition to this, since September 2005 the Ministry of Justice has been notifying the National Police Agency every month of the (scheduled) date of release, date of admission, and reason for release, etc. of inmates who committed serious offenses such as homicide and robbery, etc. and certain offenses that are likely to be connected with these offenses. As of May 31, 2009, the total number of offenders subject to this information provision was about 103,000 (Source: The Correction Bureau, Ministry of Justice).
(2) Strengthening measures for probationers/parolees whose whereabouts have become unknown
In order to promote appropriate implementation of the probation/parole system and prevent repeat offenses by rapidly finding probationers/parolees whose whereabouts have become unknown, a system in which the directors of probation offices can receive information on such individuals’ whereabouts from the police was tentatively implemented in December 2005 and then fully enforced in May 2006. This resulted in 1,386 persons (748 parolees, 638 probationers) having been located by March 31, 2009 (including the trial period) (Source: The Rehabilitation Bureau, Ministry of Justice).
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