White paper on crime 2012 Part2/Chapter6/Section1/1
In 2000 the U.N. adopted the “U.N. Convention against Transnational Organized Crime,” which requires every member country to criminalize participation in organized criminal groups, money laundering, and corruption, etc., while also providing regulations for the confiscation of crime proceeds, extraditions, and mutual legal assistance with respect to organized crime, etc. In addition, protocols supplementing the Convention were also adopted by the U.N. by 2001, namely the “Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children” (Human Trafficking Protocol), the “Protocol Against Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air” (Smuggling Protocol), and the “Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, their Parts and Components and Ammunition” (Firearms Protocol). Japan is, however, yet to conclude the said Convention and Protocols. However, as a domestic law relevant to the Human Trafficking Protocol and the Smuggling Protocol, the Act for Partial Revision of the Penal Code, etc. (Act No. 66 of 2005) was enacted and partially enforced in 2005 to provide for the establishment of penal provisions for human trafficking, etc.
The U.N. has consistently adopted international conventions to prevent terrorism by establishing jurisdiction for the punishment of terrorists, etc. The “International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism” was adopted in 1999 and the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism in 2005. Japan has concluded all 13 counterterrorism conventions and protocols, including the abovementioned.
Furthermore, after the multiple-concurrent terrorist attacks that took place in the U.S.A. on September 11, 2001, there have been initiatives to revise existing counterterrorism conventions. In 2005, the International Atomic Energy Agency adopted a revision to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material while the International Maritime Organization adopted the revised protocol of the Protocol Revising the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation and the Protocol Revising the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf. In addition, the International Civil Aviation Organization adopted a Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Relating to International Civil Aviation (Convention of Beijing) and a Protocol Supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft (Protocol of Beijing) in 2010.
The G8 Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting enables the Justice and Home Affairs Ministers, etc. of the G8 (collectively used to refer to Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States of America) and the European Union to meet and discuss common matters of concern, although with a main focus on countermeasures against transnational organized crime and terrorism. When it first commenced in 1997 the main focus of the meeting was on countermeasures against transnational organized crime but then following the 9/11 terrorist attacks that took place in the U.S.A. in 2001, the meeting adopted countermeasures against terrorism as its main agenda item (no meeting was held in 2011 and 2012).
The Counter-Terrorism Experts Group (commonly known as the Roma Group) was established within the G8 in 1978 to exchange opinions on trends in international terrorism, etc. A decision to establish the Senior Experts Group on Transnational Organized Crime (commonly known as the Lyon Group) was then made at the summit in 1995. The Lyon Group presented 40 Recommendations to Combat Transnational Organized Crime in 1996 to deter transnational organized crime in a more efficient manner. Discussions have subsequently been made on methods of investigation and regulations in more efficiently coping with transnational organized crime that includes the smuggling/trafficking of firearms, drugs and humans, cybercrime, money laundering, and corruption including bribery, etc. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.A. in 2001 the Roma Group and the Lyon Group have been holding joint meetings, and in 2002 reviewed the abovementioned Recommendations and adopted the G8 Recommendations on Transnational Crime that provide countermeasures against terrorism in addition to countermeasures against transnational organized crime.