Chair’s Summary
Sixth Regional Seminar on Good Governancefor Southeast Asian Countries
International Cooperation: Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition(12-14 December 2012, Tokyo, Japan)

1. The Sixth Regional Seminar on Good Governance for Southeast Asian Countries,
hosted by the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crimeand the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFEI), was held in the Main Conference Roomof the Ministry of Justice of Japan, in Tokyo from 12 to 14 December 2012.
2. Officials and experts from the following countries and organizations attended theseminar:
Cambodia; Indonesia; Lao PDR; Malaysia; Myanmar; Philippines; Thailand;
Vietnam; the Seoul High Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Korea; theAttorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore; the Ministry of Justice of Japan;
the National Police Agency of Japan; and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ofJapan.
3. Officials and experts from the following organizations also joined the seminar:
The Basel Institute on Governance; Beijing Normal University; ILANUD; andKorean Institute of Criminology.
4. Mr. Tatsuya Sakuma, Director of UNAFEI, delivered the opening speech, expressing
his gratitude to the above countries and organizations for their participation.
5. Mr. Kenichi Kiyono, Deputy Director of UNAFEI, provided an overview oninternational cooperation, emphasized the importance of international cooperation tocombat corruption, and identified common obstacles and measures to overcome them.
6. Speakers from the Ministry of Justice of Japan, the Seoul High Prosecutor’s Office of
the Republic of Korea and the Attorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore gavecomprehensive presentations on the frameworks of mutual legal assistance andextradition and discussed practical issues.
7. In the country presentations, the participants outlined their respective countries’ basic
mechanisms and procedures for mutual legal assistance and extradition, conditions
and requirements for rendering assistance, the scope of offences, available types ofassistance, grounds for refusal, and their experiences and successful instances ofcooperation. Some countries pointed out the practical challenges of requesting andreceiving mutual legal assistance and extradition and advocated constructive
proposals to solve these issues.
8. The speaker from Beijing Normal University presented the legal framework andpractice of mutual legal assistance in China. The speaker from the Basel Institute on
Governance addressed the universal legal framework for mutual legal assistanceregarding asset recovery.

9. During discussions, participants and speakers pointed out various obstacles they face
regarding international cooperation, such as the lack of knowledge on legislation,requirements and procedures of mutual legal assistance and extradition, the lack ofpersonal and professional interaction between central authorities, problems with thetranslation of formal requests into the requested country’s official language, delay inthe execution of requests, and a lack of well-trained personnel involved ininternational cooperation.
10. During the Meeting, the participants shared the following views and ideas toovercome challenges:-The importance of establishing an effective and clear framework of mutual legal
assistance and extradition, particularly the identification and designation ofresponsible and effective central authorities.

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The benefit of having a forum for the exchange of updates on the formal andinformal frameworks of international cooperation and having a mechanism forsharing the contact information.

-The necessity of prompt execution of requests for mutual legal assistance andextradition, and transparency in the process of receiving and executing therequests.

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The importance of facilitating and utilizing informal channels before thesubmission of formal requests, enhancing the network between counterpartners.

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The benefit of using English versions of the requests in informal consultation or as
formal requests, where appropriate.

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The importance of building confidence and trust between counterparts at central
authorities and related agencies to facilitate international cooperation.

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The benefit of holding annual conferences of central authorities and other relatedorganizations, such as this Good Governance Seminar, to make the internationalframework of mutual legal assistance and extradition more effective and to boost
mutual understanding and relations of trust.

-The importance of learning from other countries’ experiences and exchanging
good practices.

11. The visiting experts and participants expressed their thanks and appreciation to theJapanese Ministry of Justice and UNAFEI for hosting this Sixth Good GovernanceSeminar for Southeast Asian Countries.

Tokyo, 14 December 2012