The 23rd UNCAC Training Programme (Online)“Tackling Emerging Threats of Corruption in the Borderless and Digitalized World”
1.

Duration and Participants
From 22 September to 18 October
27 overseas participants from 19 jurisdictions

2. Programme Overview
Globalization coupled with rapid progress of information technology has madetrades and transactions borderless and highly reliant on worldwide information flows
in cyberspace. While these changes have contributed to enormous economic growth,
they have also made the fight against corruption more difficult with a number of newand emerging challenges. To counter these challenges, this programme offeredparticipants an opportunity to share experiences and knowledge on (i) finding,preserving, collecting, analysing and utilizing electronic evidence; (ii) detection ofcorruption cases from various sources and gaining cooperation from witnesses,
accomplices and citizens, and (iii) international cooperation.
This programme, for the first time in the history of UNAFEI’s International
Training Courses and Seminars, was exclusively conducted online due to the Covid19 pandemic. In consideration of the time difference between the participating
countries around the world, two-hour session were conducted twice a day. Instead,
The participants were offered a virtual conference room and chat room through which
they were able to communicate with the UNAFEI faculty and staff members as wellas their colleagues in real time.
3. The Content of the Programme(1) Lectures
Since the participants needed to continue their professional and family duties during
the programme, the lectures were recorded in advance and broadcast on-demand fortheir convenience, followed by live Q & A sessions with the lecturers. UNAFEI faculty
members gave on-demand lectures on the criminal justice system in Japan, as well assome live lectures on an overview of UNCAC, Japanese anti-corruption measures andinternational cooperation focusing on the bottlenecks in MLA. The visiting experts
from overseas and an ad hoc lecturer from Japan also gave informative lectures:

Visiting Experts•

Dr. Thomas DoughertyInternational Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property
Attorney for Central, Southern and Eastern Europe
U.S. Department of Justice“Effective Use of Digital Evidence in Anti-Corruption Investigations andProsecutions”•Mr. LAM Seow Kin
Deputy Director, Investigations
Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, Singapore“Effective Measures and Practical Challenges to Detect Corruption Cases from
Various Sources”•Mr. Robin LEE
Chief, Digital Technology Office, Deputy Director, Investigations
Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, Singapore“Effective Measures to Encourage Corruption Reporting”

Ad hoc lecturer•

Mr. HACHIYA Kenichi
Assistant Director, Second Unit of Investigation Training OfficeCybercrime Division, Community Safety Bureau
National Police Agency“Cybercrime Investigation Practice in Japan”(2) Group Work
Participants were divided into four groups based on time zones and the themes oftheir choice for the Individual Presentations sessions and discussions.
Individual Presentations
Participants shared the practices and the challenges in their respective
jurisdictions regarding the theme of the Programme through their individualpresentations. All the presentations were recorded and uploaded online for thereference by participants in other groups or those who could not attend thesessions.
Discussions
Participants had fruitful discussions on the themes of the Programme: (i) finding,preserving, collecting, analysing and utilizing electronic evidence; (ii) detectionof corruption cases from various sources and gaining cooperation from witnesses,accomplices and citizens, and (iii) international cooperation, focusing on theirchallenges.
• Whistle-blower/witness protection
As for encouraging reporting, conventional measures such as anonymous
reporting, exemption from civil/criminal liability and confidentiality of theidentification of the reporter were shared as well as the use of newtechnology such as online-reporting systems and smartphone applications
which give the public easy access to the authority.
As for witness protection, in court measures such as confidentiality of theidentity of the witness and video-link testimony were discussed along without-of-court measures such as the change of identification or relocation of
the witness by the government. Measures to obtain cooperation fromaccomplices and hostile witnesses was also discussed including deterred
prosecution, plea agreement (or cooperation agreement) as well as
subpoenas and the use of out-of-court statements as exceptions to thehearsay rule. It was mentioned that special units need to be established todeal with whistle-blower/witness protection because of its sensitive nature.
The Singaporean experience of younger-age education was also pointed out
as being effective in obtaining cooperation from the public.
• Effective use of information, financial intelligence and other corruption leads

Regarding FIU information, it was mentioned that the value of FIU
information needs to be disseminated among criminal justice practitioners,
and a successful case involving MLA based on the FIU information to detectand prosecute corruption was shared. The challenges and best practices ofinter-agency cooperation, especially between anti-corruption agencies andpolice forces, were also shared. The Japanese leniency system of the Fair
Trade Commission was introduced as a means to detect procurement-relatedcorruption.

• Use of digital evidence

As for the challenges of collecting and analysing digital evidence，recovery
of digital data, decrypting the locked devices seized and collection of digital
data stored overseas, as well as lack of adequate laws, experts and tools todeal with digital evidence. As countermeasures, it was discussed that timely
freezing of the data by international cooperation and sharing of tools andexperts in the regional level as well as establishing sufficient legal
frameworks and capacity building of experts and investigators.
As for the effective use of digital evidence at the trial stage, best practices forthe authentication were discussed, such as procedures for collection andpreservation, establishing the “chain of custody”, including numbering theevidence , and testimony by digital-forensics investigators and experts.
Japanese precedent was also shared on the admissibility of digital evidence
obtained from overseas servers.
• International cooperation

The lengthy, complicated process of mutual legal assistance was discussed as
one of the primary challenges to international cooperation. To overcome thesechallenges, the use of informal professional networks and information sharing
were identified as important steps. Practices were also shared on collecting andanalysing digital evidence in collaboration with law enforcement agencies inother countries. As for the collection of digital evidence, it was pointed outthat the Budapest Convention is a valuable tool for handling preservation
requests and mutual legal assistance, provided the parties to the request aremember states.
(3) Action Plans
Each participant concluded the programme by presenting their own action plans
based on the challenges they identified and what they learned in the lectures,presentations by the colleagues and discussions. Despite the lack of in-person
interaction in-person, most participants said they were quite satisfied that theprogramme had been quite helpful in acquiring knowledge on anti-corruption
measures.