Japanese Legal Technical Assistance: An Overview and the Case Study of Vietnam【Special Features】

Japanese Legal Technical Assistance: An Overview and the Case Study of Vietnam
CHINONE Koichi *Abstract
For more than a quarter of a century, the Japanese government has been providing “legal
technical assistance,” a form of Official Development Assistance (ODA), to help mainly Asian
countries develop their judicial and legal systems. This article presents the basic institutionalframework of Japanese legal assistance, its formulation process, an overview of current
projects, and refers to the underlying principles of such assistance stated in official documents
such as the Development Cooperation Charter. It also presents a case study of Vietnam, which
has the longest history of receiving legal assistance from Japan.
In Vietnam, four legal assistance projects have been implemented so far, resulting in
numerous achievements in drafting and revising basic laws and improving the legal system.
The current project, which started in 2021 and is expected to end in 2025, sets anunprecedented goal of equipping Vietnam with the capacity to compete globally, and aims to
update its legal and judicial system to meet international standards. At the same time, thecurrent project exemplifies the recent trend in Japan’s legal assistance and hints at its prospects.

Contents
I.

Introduction

II.

Overview of Japan’s Legal Assistance
1. Implementing Institutions and Schemes of Assistance
2. Basic Characteristics of Japan’s Legal Assistance from the Viewpoint of ICD
3. Basic Official Documents on Legal AssistanceIII. Case Study of Vietnam
1. Achievements of the Past Projects
2. Characteristics of the Current Project
IV. Conclusion*

International Cooperation Department, Research and Training Institute, Ministry of Justice of Japan.

3

Nagoya University Asian Law Bulletin Vol.9 (May 2023)

I.

Introduction
This article presents an overview of the legal assistance provided by the Japanese government,

including its brief history, implementation scheme, and underlying principles, and then presents a
brief case study of legal assistance in Vietnam. 1
Japan’s legal assistance dates back to 1994 when the Ministry of Justice (hereinafter referred toas the “MOJ”) invited officials from Vietnam’s Ministry of Justice for a study trip to Japan in thefirst attempt of such assistance, and continues to date, expanding the number of recipient countries
as well as the areas of support (from drafting and revising basic laws to strengthening the overall
capacity of a judicial system).
Vietnam has remained a recipient country ever since the beginning of Japan’s legal assistance,and over the course of time, the current project shows uniqueness that the previous projects in the
country and projects in other countries have not achieved. The content of the current project inVietnam may indicate the prospects for Japanese legal assistance.

II. Overview of Japan’s Legal Assistance1.

Implementing Institutions and Schemes of Assistance

Legal assistance conducted by the Japanese government is officially called “legal technicalassistance” (“hou-seido-seibi-shien”) and is an area of ODA (Official Development Assistance)
which provides legislative assistance or support for improving legal institutions in developing
countries.
Japan’s legal assistance is mainly implemented by the Japan International Cooperation Agency(hereinafter referred to as the “JICA”), an incorporated administrative agency dealing with ODA 2,
and the International Cooperation Department (hereinafter referred to as the “ICD”), a department of
the Research and Training Institute of MOJ and the only governmental body specializing in such

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or positionof any agency of the Japanese government.
This article intends to provide basic information for non-Japanese readers on the current situation of Japanese legal assistance,
centering on the assistance involving ICD the author belongs to. Therefore, the references here are in principle limited to materials
and literature available in English.
2
Established as an Incorporated Administrative Agency under the Act of the Incorporated Administrative Agency - Japan
International Cooperation Agency (Act No. 136, 2002) and in principle under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Foreign Affairs(Article 43 of Act No. 136, 2002).
1

4

Japanese Legal Technical Assistance: An Overview and the Case Study of Vietnam

assistance, in cooperation with public sector actors (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (hereinafterreferred to as the “MOFA”), the Supreme Court, the Japan Patent Office, etc.) as well as private
sector actors (the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, the International Civil and Commercial Law
Centre (ICCLC) 3, universities, academics, practitioners, etc.).
JICA handles most of Japan’s legal assistance 4 as it specializes in the planning andimplementation of Japan’s ODA. 5 JICA and ICD cooperate in the field of legal assistance within theframework of activities led by JICA such as projects and training courses with ICD providing thehuman resources of legal practitioners, especially judges and prosecutors. These legal practitioners
are sometimes sent to a recipient country as long-term or short-term experts in JICA-led projects,
mostly to provide legal expertise to local legal practitioners. Although JICA plans and carries out
most of the activities related to legal assistance, some are planned and carried out independently by
ICD, such as a joint study with a recipient country and a study trip to Japan, as explained later in thisarticle.
As for the assistance involving ICD, there are three pillars of assistance 6:
1. Drafting and revising basic laws and regulations
2. Creating systems needed for the implementation of laws7
3. Capacity building of legal professionals
according to which ICD currently provides support for 11 countries, as shown in Figure 1.
Legal assistance, typically embodied in the form of a project implemented by JICA, iscommenced and conducted based on requests from a recipient country. In the process of formulating
legal assistance, first, a request for assistance is made by a country in response to which the Japaneseside examines the necessity and feasibility of the request through discussion between the relevant
institutions such as MOFA, MOJ, embassies, JICA, external experts, etc. The Japanese side also
conducts a detailed survey for plan-making, which usually entails several visits to the recipient
country to observe the current situation in the area where assistance is requested, and to assess its
actual needs through on-site research and interviews with the relevant local authorities. Upon
ICCLC is a foundation established in April 1996 with cooperation from the business world, academia, and the legal community toassist the development of legal systems in the field of civil and commercial law. For further information on ICCLC, see(https://www.icclc.or.jp/english/) (accessed January 11, 2023).
4
For the overview of legal assistance by JICA, see for example(https://www.jica.go.jp/english/publications/brochures/c8h0vm0000avs7w2-att/rule_of_law.pdf) (accessed January 11, 2023).
5
The Act of the Incorporated Administrative Agency - Japan International Cooperation Agency (Act No. 136, 2002).
6
https://www.moj.go.jp/EN/housouken/houso_lta_lta.html (accessed January 11, 2023)
7
For example, ensuring consistency in laws and regulations, strengthening courts’ capability in handling cases, creating manuals forpractitioners, etc.
35

Nagoya University Asian Law Bulletin Vol.9 (May 2023)

completion of such a survey, a JICA project is formulated and eventually implemented, typicallywith ICD providing the human resources of experts to be stationed in a recipient country.
Currently, ICD supports JICA projects on judicial and legal reform by sending long-term
experts 8 to four countries: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Indonesia (note that the project inMyanmar is currently suspended due to political instability). Figure 2 provides an overview of the
projects led by long-term experts as well as their numbers and affiliations.
Meanwhile, in addition to the JICA-led projects, ICD is providing various other forms ofassistance. Figure 3 is an overview of such assistance, including, just to name just a few examples, ajoint study in Timor-Leste on land ownership and registration, and seminars in Nepal on the newly
enacted Civil Code involving local judges. 9 Regarding such assistance conducted uniquely by ICD,a specific request for assistance from a recipient country is required, after which the necessity andfeasibility of such a request is examined by ICD and relevant institutions, such as the Research andTraining Institute and MOJ.

2.

Basic Characteristics of Japan’s Legal Assistance from the Viewpoint of ICD

ICD, as a specialized institution for legal assistance, often lists the following as four main
characteristics of Japan’s legal assistance.
The first is “stand-by style” cooperation (“yorisoi-gata-shien”), which means that assistance, as
mentioned earlier, is commenced and conducted based on requests from a recipient country. During
the implementation of assistance, the initiative is attributed to the recipient country, and solutions aresought through dialogue with counterpart institutions and Japanese experts. Since the early stage of
its history of legal assistance, Japan has consistently provided assistance while respecting theownership of recipient countries.
Second, Japanese experts and relevant organizations value system building and human resource
development, both of which take a long time to bear fruit; and long-term capacity building is valued
more than short-term results. It is worth noting that a number of legal assistance efforts to various
countries have dealt with human resource development in one way or another, such as the training of“long-term” means the term of dispatch lasts for at least a year
(https://partner.jica.go.jp/resource/1669861352000/jicasJobView/jicas_job/pdf/specialist_treatment.pdf) (accessed January 12, 2023).
Long-term experts consist of experienced judges, prosecutors, attorneys-at-law (dispatched from the Japan Federation of Bar
Associations), and administrative officials (dispatched from each institution).
9
For the details of the past activities by ICD, see “Chronology of Legal Technical Assistance” available on(https://www.moj.go.jp/content/001369284.pdf) (accessed January 11, 2023).
8

6

Japanese Legal Technical Assistance: An Overview and the Case Study of Vietnam

professionals. 10
The third characteristic is that, in order to achieve long-term objectives, the Japanese
government sends legal practitioners to a recipient country as long-term or short-term experts so thatthe counterpart institutions in that country can seek advice or opinions on hand. Moreover, resources
are available in Japan to provide ongoing support for local activities. For recipient countries such as
Vietnam and Cambodia, there is an “advisory group” composed mainly of academics andpractitioners with a profound knowledge of the characteristics of the legal and judicial system of thesaid country and its history of receiving legal assistance from Japan. The members of an advisorygroup closely monitor the progress of a project and provide timely advice to experts stationed in therecipient country.
The last characteristic is the sharing of Japan’s experience and knowledge. During the Meiji era,
Japan stepped into modernization by importing legal systems from the West and adapting them todomestic needs and culture, eventually creating its own legal and judicial system. 11 When recipient
countries draft basic laws, such as civil codes, they would experience similar circumstances thatarise from receiving a set of legal norms foreign to their tradition. Therefore, it would be fair to saythat Japan is in a position to advise recipient countries based on its own experience in adapting toforeign laws.

3.

Basic Official Documents on Legal AssistanceLet us now turn to three official documents on legal assistance, which present the underlying
principles of legal assistance conducted by the Japanese government. 12
The first document is the Development Cooperation Charter (formerly known as “ODA
Charter”), cabinet decision last revised in 2015, which provides basis for the overall ODA of Japan.
It lays down three priority issues for ODA:
A. “Quality growth” and poverty eradication through such growth
B. Sharing universal values (freedom, democracy, respect for basic human rights, and the ruleof law) and realizing a peaceful and secure society.

Ibid.
For Japan’s experience in adopting foreign laws and creating its own, see for example Uchida, Takashi, “Legal Technical
Assistance and Juridical Science” (in Japanese) ICD NEWS No.93, December 2022, pp88-100.
12
For the explanation of the other important documents referring to legal assistance, see for example Ito, Hiroyuki, “Current Trendof Japan’s Basic Policies for Legal Technical Assistance,” ICD NEWS (English) February 2017, pp108-114 available on(https://www.moj.go.jp/content/001321503.pdf) (accessed January 11, 2023).
10
11

7

Nagoya University Asian Law Bulletin Vol.9 (May 2023)

C. Building a sustainable and resilient international community through efforts to address
global challenges 13
The Charter alludes to legal assistance in the context of the establishment of universal values
such as the rule of law and good governance in recipient countries, stating that “(the establishment of
the rule of law, the realization of good governance, the promotion and consolidation of
democratization, and respect for basic human rights, including women’s rights) hold the key torealizing an equitable and inclusive society including reducing disparities. Japan will thus provide
the necessary assistance in such areas as: development of legal and judicial systems that involves thedevelopment of positive law and the training of legal and judicial experts including experts in thecorrection and rehabilitation of offenders.” 14 The Charter does not make any further statements on
legal assistance.
The second document is “Basic Policies on Legal Technical Assistance,” 15 last revised in 2013,
formulated upon consultation among various ministries such as MOFA, MOJ, the Cabinet Office, theMinistry of Finance, etc. Unlike the Development Cooperation Charter, this document centers on
legal assistance and defines its basic characteristics as follows: “Legal technical assistance, which
provides legislative assistance or support for improving legal institutions in developing countries
around the world, contributes to their self-help efforts toward good governance and building ofintegral foundations to attain sustainable growth. Japan has continuously emphasized the importanceof the “rule of law” and appealed for the need to see it strengthened. Therefore, legal technicalassistance is an effective tool for Japan to maintain its honorable position in the international
community, and needs to be developed in a strategic manner.” 16Upon such cognizance, the document sets five objectives of legal technical assistance:
1. Establishing the rule of law in developing countries through sharing universal values,
including freedom, democracy, basic human rights, etc.
2. Improving the environment for sustainable growth and assuring compliance of global rules
3. Sharing Japan’s experience and systems, strengthening economic ties with Japan, andestablishing a platform for regional cooperation and integration
4. Improving the trade and investment environment, which is beneficial for Japaneseenterprises in expanding their businesses overseas, and assisting in the introduction of environmental
https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/oda/page_000138.html (accessed January 11, 2023)
Ibid.
15
https://www.moj.go.jp/content/000115321.pdf (accessed January 11, 2023)
16
Ibid.
13
14

8

Japanese Legal Technical Assistance: An Overview and the Case Study of Vietnam

and safety regulations.
5. Enhancing the effectiveness of Japanese economic cooperation and contributing todeveloping countries in achieving international development goals through the enhancement ofgovernance. 17
From these five perspectives, Japan is expected to proactively support recipient countries in thedevelopment of their legal systems as well as in the implementation of basic laws, economic laws,
and related areas.
The “Basic Policies on Legal Technical Assistance” names eight countries, namely Indonesia,
Vietnam, Myanmar, Mongolia, Cambodia, Laos, Uzbekistan, and Bangladesh, as “target countries
for priority assistance.” It also states that from the perspective of facilitating democratization,
stabilizing the rule of law, supporting peace building, improving the investment environment,
facilitating public–private partnerships, etc., Japan aims to meet future demand for assistance fromother Asian countries, such as Nepal and Timor-Leste, and African countries according to the needs
and demands of these countries.
The third document is the country assistance policy 18, which is formulated by MOFA and lays
down country-specific aid policies for various areas of assistance, not limited to legal assistance. A
unique country assistance policy exists for each recipient country along with a rolling plan, andincludes the details and purposes of ongoing projects in that country. While the above “Basic
Policies” enlists the priority issues of assistance for the above eight “target countries,” the “country
assistance policy” provides updated information and the vision for assistance in these and othercountries.

III. Case Study of Vietnam
1.

Achievements of the Past Projects

As mentioned above, Vietnam has the longest history of receiving legal assistance from Japan.
Legal assistance in the form of a project in Vietnam began in 1996 and continues today, involving
various counterpart institutions. 19 Figure 4 outlines the past projects, including the duration of each

Objectives 4 and 5 were newly added in the 2013 revised version.
https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/oda/assistance/country2.html (accessed January 11, 2023)
19
For a brief history of legal assistance of Japan to Vietnam, see for example ICD website(https://www.moj.go.jp/EN/housouken/houso_houkoku_vietnam.html) (accessed January 11, 2023).
17
18

9

Nagoya University Asian Law Bulletin Vol.9 (May 2023)

project, the themes, and the counterpart institutions.
Figure 5 illustrates some of the major achievements of the past projects. It is noteworthy thatthe drafting and revision of basic laws such as the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, and theCode of Criminal Procedure have been accomplished in the course of the past projects. 20 Other
achievements, such as the drafting of manuals for practitioners, are also noteworthy.
The country assistance policy of Vietnam, prioritizing the strengthening of good governance,states: “In order to strengthen governance required in the Vietnamese society in general, provide
assistance such as human resource developments to streamline and improve efficiency ofadministrative agencies. It also provides assistance for efforts to improve the capacity of governance,such as strengthening capacities of the judiciary, legislation, and law enforcement.” 21 It is evident
that the past projects mentioned above, which focus on laying the foundation for the rule of law by
establishing basic laws and contributing to human resource development, are aligned with thecountry assistance policy that focuses on building good governance in Vietnam.

2.

Current Project in Vietnam

The appellation of the current project, which started in January 2021 and is expected to end in
December 2025, is “Enhancing the quality and efficiency of developing and implementing laws in
Vietnam.” This project involves six counterpart institutions on the Vietnamese side: the Ministry ofJustice (MOJ), the Office of Government (OOG), the Central Internal Affairs Committee (CIAC),
the Supreme People’s Court (SPC), the Supreme People’s Procuracy (SPP), and the Vietnam Bar
Federation (VBF).
While the current project follows its predecessors in focusing on the strengthening of good
governance, one of its distinct characteristics is that it introduces a new method whereby eachcounterpart institution selects its own top priority issues and conducts research and discussion onthem in a working group format. 22 Under this new method, problems that may hinder the

For the outline of the past projects, see for example ICD website (https://www.moj.go.jp/content/001369284.pdf).
For details of the project conducted from 2015 to 2020, see (https://www.jica.go.jp/project/english/vietnam/032/index.html)(accessed January 11, 2023), and for the current project, see Yokomaku, Kosuke, “Outline and Current Status of the ‘Enhancing thequality and efficiency of developing and implementing laws in Vietnam’ in Vietnam” scheduled to appear in ICD NEWS (English)
March, 2023 (for its Japanese version, see ICD NEWS No.91, June 2022, pp11-19).
21
Translated from the Japanese text of the latest version of assistance policy revised in 2017 available on(https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/oda/files/000072247.pdf). English version for the 2012 version is available on(https://www.vn.emb-japan.go.jp/document/pdf/vietnam-1%EF%BC%88En%EF%BC%89.pdf). (both websites accessed January 11,2023).
22
See for example Yokomaku (2022).
20

10

Japanese Legal Technical Assistance: An Overview and the Case Study of Vietnam

enhancement of the quality and efficiency of the development and implementation of laws are
identified and solutions to them are implemented solely by the counterpart institutions, which could
be described as an advanced form of the conventional “stand-by style.”
Figure 6 lists the issues for each counterpart; some institutions have set two objectives, whereas
others have set one. Currently, a working group has been formed for each theme and is in the processof discussing solutions for each issue.
When we look at the trajectory of past and present projects, we can see a transition in project
purposes. The early projects dealt with drafting and revising basic laws, such as the Civil Code andCode of Civil Procedure, to support Vietnam’s transition to a market economy. Then, the projects
began to focus on improving the existing legal and judicial system, for example by creating manuals
for practitioners to improve their skills and advising judges on how to write better judgments.
The current project sets even higher aims of strengthening Vietnam’s global competitiveness byimproving the quality of legal normative documents and their effective enforcement. The content of
the current project follows those of the previous projects in some aspects; however, unlike its
predecessors, the current project purports to bring the Vietnamese legal and judicial system up tointernational standards. This project is intended to reflect the resolution of the 13th National Party
Congress in 2021, which sets various national objectives, including the development of laws and theimprovement of the country’s position in the international community.

IV. Conclusion
To date, Japan has provided legal assistance based on existing priority themes, such as
establishing the rule of law, enhancing good governance, and building an investment environment
for Japanese companies, 23 but the form and content of the assistance are changing over time.
Conventional objectives of legal assistance have focused on the drafting and revision of basic laws,
the establishment of systems necessary to implement laws, and the development of human resources.
However, recent trends show that recipient countries are requesting assistance in areas beyond basic
laws, with a focus on specialized, advanced laws such as intellectual property laws and competition
laws, to name a few. Moreover, as we have seen in the case of Vietnam, recipient countries are

MOFA recently announced its plans to revise the Development Cooperation Charter by the first half of 2023.
(https://www.mofa.go.jp/press/release/press1e_000323.html) (accessed May 1, 2023)
23

11

Nagoya University Asian Law Bulletin Vol.9 (May 2023)

increasingly aware of the need to improve their judicial systems to meet international standards. For
donors such as Japan, formulating and implementing assistance in line with international
standards—such as the SDGs and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, forexample—is all the more important from the perspective of not only responding to the needs ofrecipient countries, but also achieving results with international recognition.

References
Japan International Cooperation Agency, Japan’s Approach to Legal and Judicial Developmentin Developing Countries – Building Trust and Partnership -, Shuppan Bunka Shinko Zaidan, 2020
Kono, Ryuzo, “Activity Report on the Legal and Judicial Project for Vietnam”, Presentation at
the 23rd Annual Conference on Technical Assistance in the Legal Field held on June 25, 2022 by the
Research and Training Institute, Ministry of Justice of Japanavailable on (https://www.moj.go.jp/content/001375167.pdf) (accessed January 11, 2023)
Kuong, Teilee, “Legal Assistance in the Japanese ODA: The Spark of a New Era”, Asian
Journal of Law and Society, Volume 5, Issue 2, November 2018, pp271-287
Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc., “Evaluation of Cooperation for Legal and Judicial Reform”,
Third Party Evaluation Report 2014, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, February 201512

Japanese Legal Technical Assistance: An Overview and the Case Study of Vietnam

Figure 1

Overview of Legal Assistance by ICD
Mongolia 2004
Uzbekistan 2001
Nepal 2009
Bangladesh 2016

Laos 1998
Vietnam 1994

Myanmar 2013

Cambodia 1996

Sri Lanka 2019
Indonesia 1998
Timor-Leste 2009
Note: Year means when the assistance started. Before the establishment of ICD in
2001, the implementing institution was MOJ or Research and Training Institute (RTI).

Figure 2

Assistance with Long-term Advisors (JICA Projects)“The project for promoting
development andstrengthening of the rule oflaw in the legal sector of
Lao P.D.R”
Prosecutor: 1
Attorne y-at-Law: 2“Enhancing the quality andefficiency of developing
and implementing laws in
Vietnam”“The legal and judicial
development project (Phase VI)”
Prosecutor: 1
Judge: 1

Prosecutor: 1
Attorney-at-Law: 1
MOJ Official: 1“Project for efficient and fair dispute resolution mechanism
and legislative drafting capacity development for improving
business environment”
Prosecutor: 1
Judge: 1

Note: The information is as of May 1, 2023.

13

Nagoya University Asian Law Bulletin Vol.9 (May 2023)

Figure 3

Overview of Other Assistance by ICD
Timor-Leste: Joint study and field surveys on land ownership and registration
Nepal：Seminar on newly enacted Civil Code, Criminal Procedure Code etc.
Uzbekistan: Joint study on newly enacted Administrative Laws/ White Paper on

Crime etc.
MOC between MOJ of Japan and MOJ of Uzbekistan
MOC between RTI (Research and Training Institute, MOJ of Japan) andthe Academy of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Uzbekistan

Mongolia： Joint study on Commercial Law
MOC between RTI and National Legal Institute of Mongolia
Laos : MOC between RTI and National Institute of Justice of Laos
Cambodia : MOC between RTI and Royal Academy for Judicial Professions

Figure 4

History of Legal Assistance Projects in Vietnam

MOJ: Ministry of Justice, SPC: Supreme People’s Court, SPP: Supreme People’s Procuracy, VNU: Vietnam National
University, VBF: Vietnam Bar Federation, OOG: Office of Government, CIAC: Central Internal Affairs Committee
From Kono (2022)

14

Japanese Legal Technical Assistance: An Overview and the Case Study of Vietnam

Figure 5

Major Achievements of the Past Projects【Drafting and Revising of Laws】
 Code of Civil Procedure (enacted in 2004, revised in 2011, 2015)
 Bankruptcy Law (enacted in 2004, revised in 2014) Civil Code (enacted in 2005, revised in 2015)
 Civil Judgement Implementation Law (enacted in 2008, revised in2014)
 State Compensation Law (enacted in 2009, revised in 2017)
 Administrative Litigation Act (revised in 2015)
 Code of Criminal Procedure (revised in 2003, 2015)【Others】
 Drafting of manuals for prosecutors
 Assistance for standardization of civil judgements and developmentof case law
 Assistance for improving capacity of judicial institutions (Courts,
Procuracies, etc.)
 Assistance for examination of laws and regulations

Figure 6

Priority Issues for Each Counterpart
MOJ

1. Enhancement of quality and skill in legal system, ensuring uniformity,
consistency and feasibility
2. Enhancement of efficiency and skill of laws implementation under thestate management

CIAC

Making and perfecting laws on the prevention of corruption and negativity

OOG

Enhancement of quality and skill in verification of the draft of legal
normative documents

SPC

1. Development of case laws
2. Enhancement of effectiveness and efficiency of the Law on Mediation
and Dialogue at Court

SPP

1. Research on People’s Procuracy (PP) in the Socialist Rule of Law Stateof Vietnam of 2021-2030, with a vision to 2045
2. Improving capacity of PP staff and prosecutors

VBF

1. Strengthening media agency communication
2. Developing profession with digital transformation

15

Nagoya University Asian Law Bulletin Vol.9 (May 2023)

16