The 171st International Senior Seminar“Criminal Justice Response to Crime Motivated by Intolerance and Discrimination”

1. Duration and ParticipantsFrom 8 January to 7 February 2019

13 overseas participants from 9 countries / jurisdictions



6 domestic participants

2. Programme Overview
The equality norm is a fundamental value that seeks to achieve human dignity and torealize the potential of all people. The United Nations instruments have consistently recognized
the importance of the equality norm. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by
the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, provides that everyone is entitled to all the rights
and freedoms without distinction of any kind1. In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly
adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs)2, which emphasizes theresponsibilities of all States to respect, protect and promote human rights and fundamental
freedoms for all without distinction of any kind as to race, color, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, disability or other status(paragraph 19). Moreover, the SDG targets specifically refer to, among others:ending all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere (target5.1);

eliminating all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private
spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation (target 5.2);

by 2030, empowering and promoting the social, economic and political inclusion of allirrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or otherstatus (target 10.2); and

promoting and enforcing non-discriminatory laws and politics for sustainable
development (target 16.b).
However, crimes motivated by intolerance and discrimination of all kind (hereinafterreferred to as “intolerance crimes”) are global phenomena, and cases of intolerance crimes havebeen reported by many states. Typically, intolerance crimes are violent crimes involving assault,intimidation, property destruction or vandalism motivated by race, ethnicity, religious or
sexual-orientation bias. Further, in some cases, intolerant or discriminatory bias has led to more

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serious offenses, such as violence against women (based on gender bias), murder or eventerrorism. Intolerance crimes often cause greater negative impacts on the individual victims aswell as on the society at large, as compared to ordinary crimes. First, the individual victim tends
to endure more serious mental damage from intolerance crimes, since in such crimes, thecriminal offends the victim merely on the basic of that person’s specific characteristics, whichquite frequently is of an inherent nature or represents the person’s fundamental values, such as
race, gender and religion. Second, intolerance crimes, once committed, may cause fear andanxiety in the victimized community. These negative effects would be even more serious wherea group with such characteristics has historically been victimized by discrimination.
Furthermore, by creating or emphasizing existing social tensions, intolerance crimes have thepotential to cause social division and civil unrest, or may result in negative spirals of violence
and retaliation, thus raising security and public order issues.
Given these negative impacts, it is important for the international community to makeefforts to prevent and suppress intolerance crimes. In this regard, this program offers articipants
an opportunity to deepen their understanding and share experiences and knowledge aboutsituations of, and criminal justice responses to intolerance crimes of each participating country.
The information shared may include legislation, policies and practices that respond tointolerance crimes, enabling to the participants to explore effective practical countermeasuresby criminal justice authorities particularly in regard to their investigation, prosecution andadjudication that would fit within the legal system and the cultural and social background ofeach country.
3. Lectures
The following visiting experts from overseas and ad hoc lecturers from Japan, as well as
professors of UNAFEI, gave lectures:○ Visiting Experts
Ms. Cristina M. Finch
Head, Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department, Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

Dr. Mark Walters
Professor of Criminal Law and Criminology, School of Law, Politics and Sociology,
University of Sussex

Ms. Santanee Ditsayabut
Provincial Public Prosecutor, Assistant Secretary to the Deputy Attorney General,Office of Attorney General2

Dr. Dimosthenis Chrisikos
Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer, the Division for Treaty Affairs,
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime○ Ad hoc lecturers
Mr. Shota Maeda
Officer, Prison Service Division, Correction Bureau, Ministry of JusticeMr. Kenichi Kikegawa
Deputy Director, Trial Department, Yokohama Public Prosecutors OfficeMr. Yukio NakajimaCounsellor, Human Rights Bureau, Ministry of JusticeMr. Takeshi Fujishima
Deputy Director, Public Security Division, National Police Agency

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