Source: http://www.moj.go.jp/ENGLISH/information/liai-01.html
(Law No. 69 of 1980, as amended by Law No. 89 of 2004)
Index
Chapter 1 General Provisions (Articles 1-4)
Chapter 2 Collection of Evidence and Other Related Matters (Articles 5-18)
Chapter 3 Transfer of a Sentenced Person for Testimony (Articles 19-22)
Chapter 4 Detention of a Foreign Sentenced Person (Articles 23-26)
As used in this Law, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated herein:
(1) "Assistance" means to provide a foreign country, at its request, with
evidence necessary for the country to investigate a criminal case, including
transfer of a sentenced person for testimony;
(2) "Requesting country" means a foreign country which has made a request to
Japan for assistance;
(3) "Offense for which assistance is requested" means any offense which is
mentioned in a request for assistance by the requesting country as being the
subject of investigation.
(4) "Transfer of a sentenced person for testimony" means an international
transfer of a person who is detained for execution of a sentence, in
accordance with a treaty that provides such a person may be transferred for
appearance as a witness to be examined in criminal proceedings.
Assistance shall not be provided in any of the following
circumstances:
(1) When the offense for which assistance is requested is a political offense,
or when the request for assistance is deemed to have been made with a view to
investigating a political offense;
(2) Unless otherwise provided by a treaty, when the act constituting the
offense for which assistance is requested would not constitute an offense
under the laws, regulations or ordinances of Japan were it committed in Japan;
(3) With respect to a request for an examination of a witness or a submission
of material evidence, unless otherwise provided by a treaty, when the
requesting country does not clearly demonstrate in writing that the evidence
is indispensable to the investigation.
1. A request for assistance shall be received, and
evidence shall be forwarded to the requesting country, by the Minister of
Foreign Affairs. The Minister of Justice, however, may carry out these tasks,
upon a consent given by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, when a treaty confers
the authority to receive requests for assistance on the Minister of Justice,
or where exigency or other special circumstances exist.
2. When the Minister of Justice receives a request for
assistance or forwards evidence to the requesting country in accordance with
the second sentence of the preceding paragraph, the Minister of Justice may
ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs for cooperation necessary for the
execution of matters relating to the assistance.
Upon receiving a request for assistance, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs shall, except where any of the following applies, forward the
written request for assistance or a certification prepared by the Minister of
Foreign Affairs of the fact that such a request has been made , as well as
related documents, with the opinion of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
attached, to the Minister of Justice:
(1) When a request has been made based on a treaty, where the form of the
request does not satisfy the reqirements of the treaty;
(2) When a request has been made without being based on a treaty, where there
is no guarantee from the requesting country that it will honor requests of the
same sort from Japan.
1. With respect to a request for assisstance in matters
other than a transfer of a sentenced person for testimony, except where any
Item in Article 2 (any item in Articles 2 or 4, when the Minister of Justice
receives a request for assistance pursuant to the second sentence of the first
paragraph of Article 3) applies, the Minister of Justice shall, when none of
the following applies and the Minister of Justice deems it appropriate to
honor the request, take one of the following measures:
(1) Forward the related documents to the Chief Prosecutor of an appropriate
District Public Prosecutors Office and order the Chief Prosecutor to collect
the evidence necessary for assistance;
(2) Forward the documents concerning the request for assistance to the
National Public Safety Commission;
(3) Forward the documents concerning the request for assistance to the
Commandant of the Maritime Safety Agency, or to the head of other national
agency to which judicial police officials belong as provided by Article 190 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure (Law No. 131 of 1948).
2. With respect to a request for provision of a document
relating to litigation which is in the custody of a court, a public prosecutor
or a judicial police officer, the Minister of Justice shall forward the
documents concerning the request for assistance to the custodian of the
record.
3. The Minister of Justice may conduct investigation on
the whereabouts of a relevant person and other necessary matters, when the
Minister of Justice deems it necessary in order to take measures provided in
paragraph 1 or any other measures relating to the assistance.
Upon receiving the documents provided for in paragraph
1, item (2) of Article 5, the National Public Safety Commission shall forward
the related documents to an appropriate prefectural police force, and direct
it to collect the evidence necessary for assistance.
1. When a Chief Prosecutor receives an order provided
for in paragraph 1, item (1) of Article 5, he/she shall have a public
prosecutor in the Office take measures to collect the evidence necessary for
assistance.
2. When the Superintendent General or a chief of a
prefectural police force (hereinafter referred to as the "chief of a police
force") is directed as provided for in Article 6, he/she shall have a judicial
police officer of his prefectural police force take measures provided for in
paragraph l.
3. When the head of a national agency receives the
documents provided for in paragraph l, item (3) of Article 5, he/she shall
have an appropriate judicial police officer of his/her agency take measures
provided for in paragraph 1 .
1. With regard to collection of evidence necessary for
assistance, a public prosecutor or a judicial police officer may: ask any
person concerned to appear before them and interrogate the person; request an
expert to make a non-compulsory inspection; ask the owner, possessor or
custodian of a document or other material to submit it; or ask a public
office, or a public or private organization to make reports on necessary
matters.
2. With regard to collection of evidence necessary for
assistance, a public prosecutor or judicial police officer may, if it is
deemed to be necessary, undertake seizure, search, or compulsory inspection of
evidence, upon a warrant issued by a judge.
3. A public prosecutor or a judicial police officer may,
when the evidence to be collected pursuant to the preceding two Paragraphs is
a business document or item (hereinafter in this paragraph refers to a
document or any other item that is prepared or retained in the course of a
business) and a request for assistance in certification regarding the manner
of preparation and retention of such a document or item has been made, request
the person who has prepared or retained such a document or item, or any other
person who seems to have professional knowledge regarding its preparation or
retention, to submit a certificate of the matters asked for in the request.
4. When requesting submission of a certificate pursuant
to the preceding paragraph, a public prosecutor or a judicial police officer
must notify the person whom they ask for a certificate that submission of a
false certificate may result in criminal punishment.
5. A public prosecutor or a judicial police officer may
have a public prosecutor's assistant officer or a judicial police official to
take the measures provided for in paragraphs 1 through 3 above.
A person who submits a false certificate in response to
a request for submission of a certificate in accordance with paragraph 3 of
Article 8 shall be punishable with imprisonment for not more than a year or
with fine of not more than 500,000 yen. This shall not apply, however, when
such conduct of the person constitutes a crime under the Penal Code (Law No.
45 of 1907).
A public prosecutor may apply to a judge for examination
of a witness when any of the following applies:
(1) When the request for assistance is for examination of a witness;
(2) When a person concerned has refused to appear or to make statements in
response to interrogation in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 8;
(3) When a person who has been requested to submit a certificate pursuant to
paragraph 3 of Article 8 has refused to do so.
An application for issuance of a warrant or examination
of a witness shall be accompanied with a document set forth in item (3) of
Article 2. This shall not apply, however, when a treaty provides otherwise.
An application for issuance of a warrant or examination
of a witness shall be made to a judge of the District Court that has
jurisdiction over the place where the office to which the requesting person
belongs is located; an objection to a measure taken by a judicial police
offficial concerning the seizure or the restoration of a seized article shall
be made to the District Court that has jurisdiction over the place where that
judicial police official exercised his/her duties.
Except as otherwise provided in this Law, the provisions
of the Code of Criminal Procedure (limited only to Chapters II and V through
XIII of Book I, Chapter I of Book II, Chapters I and IV of Book III), and of
the laws, regulations and ordinances concerning the costs of criminal
proceedings, shall apply mutatis mutandis to the measures taken by a public
prosecutor, public prosecutor's assistant officer or a judicial police
official, to the issuance of a warrant and the examination of a witness by a
judge, and to the decision rendered by a court or a judge, insofar as such
application is not incompatible with the nature of the proceedings.
1. When the Chief Prosecutor has finished obtaining the
evidence necessary for assistance, he/she shall promptly forward the evidence
obtained, with his/her opinion attached, to the Minister of Justice. When the
head of a national agency pro-vided for in paragraph 1, item (3) of Article 5
has finished obtaining the evidence, he/she shall do the same.
2. When the chief of a police force has finished
obtaining the evidence necessary for assistance, the prefectural Public Safety
Commission shall promptly forward the evidence obtained, with its opinion
attached, to the National Public Safety Commission.
3. Upon receiving the evidence as provided for in
paragraph 2 above, the National Public Safety Commission shall promptly
forward the evidence, with its opinion attached, to the Minister of Justice.
4. The custodian of a record made in connection with
litigation who has received the documents concerning a request for assistance
as provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 5, shall promptly forward the record
or a certified copy thereof, with his/her opinion attached, to the Minister of
Justice; when he/she is unable to do so, he/she shall return the documents
concerning the request for assistance to the Minister of Justice.
5. When, after receiving the evidence provided for in
paragraph l, 3, or 4 above, the Minister of Justice deems it to be necessary,
he/she shall determine conditions that the requesting country shall observe
with respect to the use or the return of the evidence.
6. When the requesting country does not assure that it
will observe the conditions provided for in paragraph 5 above, the Minister of
Justice shall not provide the assistance.
When the Minister of Justice, after taking measures as
provided for in paragraph l, item (2) or (3) of Article 5, or in paragraph 2
of Article 5, deems it to be inappropriate to provide assistance, he/she
shall, without delay, notify the person who has received the documents
concerning the request for assistance to that effect.
1. The Minister of Justice shall consult with the
Minister of Foreign Affairs when making a decision not to provide assistance
upon finding that the request falls under item (1) of Article 4 or that
honoring the request would be inappropriate, or when setting conditions in
accordance with paragraph 5 of Article 14.
2. When the Minister of Justice takes a measure provided
for in the items of paragraph 1 of Article 5, he shall consult with the
National Public Safety Commission or with the head of a National agency
provided for in item(3) of that paragraph, according to their jurisdiction,
except when the agency to collect evidence is clear from the documents
concerning the request for assistance, such as when the examination of a
witness is requested.
Besides the provisions of this Chapter, the necessary
procedural rules concerning issuance of warrants, examination of witness, and
appeals shall be determined by Supreme Court.
1. When the International Criminal Police Organization
requests cooperation in the investigation of a criminal case of a foreign
country, the National Public Safety Commission may take one of the following
measures:
(1) Direct a prefectural police force which is deemed to be appropriate to
make the necessary inquiry;
(2) Forward the documents concerning the requests for cooperation to the head
of a national agency provided for in paragraph 1, item (3) of Article 5.
2. The provisions of Article 2 (except for items (3) and
(4)), shall apply mutatis mutandis to the preceding in paragraph 1.
3. The National Public Safety Commission may, when it
deems necessary in order to take the measures set forth in paragraph 1, have
an officiall of the National Police Agency investigate the whereabouts and
other necessary matters with respect to persons concerned.
4. With regard to the steps provided for in paragraph 1,
the National Public Safety Commission shall consult with the head of a
national agency in item (2) of paragraph 1, according to their jurisdiction,
except when the agency to make the inquiry is clear from the request.
5. When the National Public Safety Commission takes a
step provided for in paragraph 1, it shall hear the opinion of the Ministry of
Justice.
6. The chief of a prefectural police force which has
been directed to make an inquiry pursuant to item (1) of paragraph 1, shall
order a police officer of his force to take the steps necessary for the
inquiry.
7. The head of a national agency who has received the
documents concerning a request for cooperation as provided for in item (2) of
paragraph 1, may order a staff member of his/her agency who is a judicial
police official to take the steps necessary for the requested inquiry.
8. With regard to the inquiry provided for in paragraph
6 or 7, a police officer or a staff member of a national agency in the
preceding paragraph may question any person concerned, make a noncompulsory
inspection, ask the owner, possessor or custodian of a document or other
material to produce it, or ask a public office, or a public or private
organization to make reports on necessary matters.
1. When the requesting country, in accordance with a
treaty, requests a transfer of a sentenced person for testimony regarding a
domestically sentenced person (hereinafter refers to a person who is detained
in Japan for execution of a sentence of imprisonment or of an assistance
sentence set forth in item 2 of Article 2 of Law for International Transfer of
Sentenced Persons (Law No. 66 of 2002)), the Ministry of Justice shall make a
decision of transfer of a sentenced person for testimony, with a determinate
priod for which the domestically sentenced person will be transferred, if none
of item (1) or (2) of Article 2, or any of the following (with respect to
cases where the Minister of Justice receives a request for assistance in
accordance with the provision in the second sentence of paragraph 1 of Article
3, none of item (1) or (2) of Article 2, item (1) of Article 4, or the
following) applies, and where the Ministrer of Justice deems it appropriate to
honor the request:
(1) When the domestically sentenced person does not consent in writing;
(2) When the domestically sentenced person is under the age of 20;
(3) When the requested priod for transfer of the domestically sentenced person
exceeds 30 days;
(4) When a case regarding a crime that the domestically sentenced person has
committed is pending in a Japanese court.
2. The provisions in paragraphs 5 and 6 of Article 14,
and paragraph 1 of Article 16 shall be applied mutatis mutandis to where a
request for transfer of a sentenced person regarding a domestically sentenced
person has been made. Any technical provisions for such application shall be
set forth in a Cabinet Order.
3. The Minister of Justice shall, when having made a
decision set forth in paragraph 1, order the custodial chief of the
penitentiary in which the domestically sentenced person is imprisoned to hand
over the person in accordance with the decision, and notify the domestically
sentenced person of the decision.
1. The Minister of Justice shall send a permit of
reception, when having made an order pursuant to paragraph 3 of Article 19.
2. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, upon receipt of a
permit of reception in accordance with the preceding paragraph, shall forward
it to the requesting country immediately.
3. Notwithstanding the two preceding paragraphs, when
the Minister of Justice receives a request for assistance pursuant to the
second sentence of paragraph 1 of Article 3, forwarding of a permit of
reception to the requesting party shall be made by the Minister of Justice.
4. The custodial chief who has received an order set
forth in paragraph 3 of Article 19 shall, when an official of the requesting
country request handover of the domestically sentenced person by showing a
Permit of Receipt, hand over the domastically sentenced person.
5. The official of the requesting country who has
received the handover of the domestically sentenced person in accordance with
the provision in the preceding paragraph shall expediciously escort the
domestically sentenced person to the requesting counrty.
A period for which a domestically sentenced person has
been subject to transfer of a sentenced person for testimony (excluding a
period in which the person was not detained) shall be considered time served
for the purpose of execution of the sentence.
1. Paragraph 2 of Article 28 and Article 55 of the
Prison Law (Law No. 28 of 1908) shall not apply to a handover of a
domestically sentenced person to an official of the requesting country in
accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 20.
2. Articles 56 and 57 of the Prison Law shall be applied
mutatis mutandis to the personal items of a domestically sentenced person who
has been handed over to an official of the requesting country pursuant to
paragraph 4 of Article 20.
1. A public prosecutor must detain, based on a warrant
for received transfer detention issued in advance, a foreign sentenced person
(hereinafter refers to a person detained for execution of a sentence of
imprisonment with or without labor or its equivalents in a foreign country)
for whom a decision to examine as a witness in a Japanese criminal proceeding
has been made, after receiving a handover of such a foreign sentenced person
from an official of the foreign country for transfer of sentenced person for
testimony.
2. Paragraph 1 through 3 of Article 6 and Article 7 of
the Law on Extradition (Law No. 68 of 1953), and Article 71, paragraph 3 of
Article 73, and Articles 74 and 126 of the Code of Criminal Procedure shall be
applied mutatis mutandis to the detention of a foreign sentenced person based
on a warrant for received transfer detention set forth in the preceding
paragraph. Any technical provisions for such application shall be set forth in
a Cabinet Order.
1. A foreign sentenced person who has been handed over
from a foreign official for transfer for a sentenced person shall, within 30
days from the date of such a handover, be handed back to the foreign official.
This shall not apply, however, when the foreign sentenced person cannot be
handed back in compliance with the term set forth above due to natural
disaster or other unavoidable circumstances.
2. A public prosecutor may have an assistant official
for a public prosecutor, a police official, a maritime safety official, or an
assistant maritime safety official escort the foreign sentenced person, based
on a warrant for received transfer detention set forth in the paragraph 1 of
Article 23, when necessary for handing over the foreign sentenced person to
the foreign official in accordance with the preceding paragraph. In such a
case, the provision in Article 74 of the Code of Criminal Procedure shall be
applied mutatis mutandis.
1. A public prosecutor may, only on the basis of illness
or other compelling curcumstances, suspend the detention of a foreign
sentenced person who is detained based on a warrrant for received transfer
detention, with such a person entrusted to a physician or other appropriate
person, or with limitation on the domicile of such a person.
2. A public prosecutor may rescind suspension of the
detention at any time when the prosecutor deems necessary to do so.
3. The provisions in paragraphs 3 through 5 of Article
22 of Law on Extradition shall be applied mutatis mutandis to rescission of
suspension of the detention of a foreign sentenced person pursuant to the
preceding paragraph. Any technical provisions for such application shall be
set forth in an Cabinet Order.
A foreign sentenced person who is detained in accordance
with paragraph 1 of Article 23 shall be considered a person detained for
execution of a judgment pending a finalized judgment for the purpose of the
application of Articles 97, 98, and 102 (only to the extent setting forth the
attempted offense for Articles 97 and 98) of the Penal Code.
