UNAFEI
147th International Senior Seminar“Community Involvement in Offender Treatment”

Closing Ceremony – 9 February 2011
Farewell Speech by
Mr. Márcio Schiefler Fontes (Brazil)

Honourable Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Mr. Masaki Sasaki, Director of UNAFEI,
Mr. Haruhiko Ukawa, Deputy Director of UNAFEI,Mr. Osamu Shimizu, President of the Research andTraining Institute,
Mr. Hisanao Noda, Deputy Director of TIC, JICA,
UNAFEI Faculty and Staff Members,
JICA Staff Members,
Distinguished Guests,
Fellow Participants,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The time has come to say farewell.
On behalf of all the senior officers from judicial, police andcorrectional backgrounds that have come from all continents togather at UNAFEI and attend this 147th International Senior
Seminar, I would like to, first of all, express our profound andsincere gratitude and appreciation to the Government of Japan, its
people, JICA and UNAFEI for granting us this opportunity.
Our course aimed to share international experience on theissue of Community Involvement in Offender Treatment, and I am
pleased to say that we have achieved our goal. Greater community
involvement can help make the criminal justice system moretransparent and more accountable, and also much more effective inpreventing recidivism and promoting public safety.
Many people were responsible for the success of our course.
I could start by mentioning the kindness of the true brigade decuisine who have attended us so kindly, or the gentle members ofUNAFEI staff that have escorted us throughout Tokyo, Hiroshima

Yamaguchi and Kyoto, showing themselves, inside or outside
UNAFEI, to be cheerful, helpful and cooperative.
I could continue by mentioning our Japanese colleagues,
who have spent most of their time with us, even during theweekends, in detriment to their own families, in order to make ourstay more comfortable, enjoyable and memorable.
Or perhaps I could make a long remark about the excellent
lectures presented by the visiting experts from Canada, New
Zealand, Singapore, the UK, Uganda and Thailand.
I could end, probably, mentioning the inspiring leadershipand efficient supervision provided by Director Masaki Sasaki andDeputy Director Haruhiko Ukawa.
Notwithstanding, I want to highlight, above all, thecompetent guidance of our Programming Officer, Junichi Watanabe,
on one hand, and of the JICE Coordinator, Miki Yamamoto, on theother, both of whom having proved themselves beyond allparameters.
The ultimate goal of all us participants is to proveourselves capable of maintaining an international network ofcounterparts in order to improve the administration of justice in ourrespective countries.
To achieve this, we are willing to keep in contact, sharing
knowledge of the functioning of our criminal justice systems as ourJapanese hosts have shared theirs.
Actually, we have experienced exciting interaction withJapanese authorities and had the pleasure of many visits, including
to the Supreme Court, Tokyo District Court, Tokyo District Public
Prosecutors Office, Fuchu Prison, Mine Rehabilitation ProgrammeCentre, Kyoto Probation Office and Halfway Houses in Hiroshima
and Kyoto, which have allowed us a first-hand glimpse of Japan’s
criminal justice system.
Ladies and gentlemen,Every time I have to speak to an audience, I like toremember that judges, as you know, earn their living not fromspeaking, but from listening.
Tonight, however, I cannot end my farewell speech before
saying this:A month ago, when I landed in Japan for the first time in
my life, I was eager to confirm or not the Japanese people’s
worldwide reputation for being absolutely honest and extremely
hard-working.
After only 30 days, I am not exaggerating when I say thatmy expectations have been surpassed by far. Your hospitality,kindness, and generosity exceed your best-known qualities tenfold.
Dear Hosts, your Excellencies, esteemed Guests,We must now leave UNAFEI, yet we leave a piece of us
here, and we also take a piece of UNAFEI with us, for now we arepart of the UNAFEI family.
May God Almighty bless this wonderful country, where thesun rises, and its virtuous people, with 10,000 years of peace andprosperity.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.