REPORT OF THE SEMINAR
THE 180th INTERNATIONAL SENIOR SEMINAR“PROMOTING LEGAL AID FOR OFFENDERS AND VICTIMS”

1. Duration and Participants•••

From 13 January to 6 February 2023
22 overseas participants from 16 countries
3 participants from Japan

2. Seminar Overview

This seminar focused on promoting legal aid for offenders and victims. The participants made presentations
about legal aid for offenders and/or victims in their respective countries. Through presentations and lectures,the participants learned from the participating countries’ experiences, practices and strategies with respect
to legal aid for offenders and victims, with reference to recent international trends. In addition to enhancing
their knowledge of effective measures, the participants established a global network for the exchange of
updated information on the practices of the participating countries.

3. Contents of the Seminar(1) Lectures
The following experts from overseas and Japanese experts, as well as UNAFEI faculty members, gave
lectures as follows:••

Experts from overseas-Mr. Vincent Cheng Yang (Online)
Senior AssociateInternational Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy (ICCLR, Vancouver,Canada)
Title of lecture: Criminal Legal Aid in Canada-Ms. Anika Holterhof (Online)
Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer & Focal Point for Legal Aid, Crime Prevention andCriminal Justice Section, Division for Treaty Affairs
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC, Vienna, Austria)
Title of lecture: Enhancing Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems(Joint lecture with Ms. Sonya Rahaman)-Ms. Sonya Rahaman (Online)
Legal Consultant, the Access to Justice Team, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Section,
Division for Treaty Affairs, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC, Vienna, Austria)
Title of lecture: UNODC Technical Assistance on Access to Legal Aid for Suspects, Prisoners andVictims and Witnesses of Crime (Joint lecture with Ms. Anika Holterhof)

Japanese Experts-Ms. KAMITANI Sakura
Lawyer
Sakura-Mirai Law Firm
Title of lecture: Support for Victims of Crime by a Private Practice Lawyer in Japan-Ms. TOMITA Satoko
Head, International Affairs Office (Lawyer)
Japan Legal Support Center
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Title of lecture: Legal Aid in Criminal Justice System in Japan-Mr. MUTOU Issei
Deputy Director, Crime Victim Support Office
National Police Agency
Title of lecture: Crime Victim Support Provided by the Police-Mr. HASEGAWA Kaoru
Head of the Crime Victim Support Office (Public Prosecutor)
Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office
Title of lecture: Efforts of the Crime Victim Support Office of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors
Office(2) Individual Presentations
All participants made presentations on the systems, practices and challenges related to legal aid in
their respective countries. In response to each presentation, many questions were asked by participants
and a lively Q&A session took place. Participants showed a strong interest in the systems, practices andchallenges of other countries.
(3) Group Workshops
Participants were divided into four groups, and discussions were held in each group on how topromote legal aid for offenders and/or victims. Each group decided whether it would discuss both formsof legal aid or just one. One group discussed legal aid for offenders, two groups discussed legal aid forvictims, and another group discussed both.
In the discussions, the participants shared the systems and practices of their respective countries,
identified challenges facing the promotion of legal aid based on the knowledge gained through theindividual presentations and lectures, and discussed specific solutions to resolve those challenges.
Participants were very serious and enthusiastic, so very active and constructive discussions were held.
The good relationships that had been established before the discussions also contributed to them.
Each group made presentations on the results of the discussion. In response to each presentation,
participants in other groups asked many questions and a lively Q&A session was held.

4. Feedback from the Participants

Most participants made positive comments. They said that individual presentations, lectures, and group
workshops were very helpful. In addition, some participants said that they were surprised at the disciplineof the Japanese people, based on what they had seen and heard inside and outside the seminar.

5. Comments from the Programming Officer (Professor NAKAYAMA Noboru)

Legal aid for offenders has long been one of the themes of great concern in many countries. On the otherhand, legal aid for victims is a new area compared to legal aid for offenders. Therefore, when I prepared thisseminar, I felt a little anxious about whether the participants would be interested in legal aid for victims.
However, legal aid for victims was also of very high interest to participants, and active Q&A and discussions
were conducted in terms of both forms of legal aid.
I learned a lot from the participants, including the systems, practices, and challenges related to legal aid
in the participating countries. In addition, I was deeply impressed by the seriousness and enthusiasm ofparticipants. I hope that the knowledge gained in this seminar will contribute to the development of thesystems and practices in their respective countries.
UNAFEI’s in-person training courses had been suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, thisseminar was held in person, following the 24th UNCAC Training Programme that was held in November
last year. I felt that face-to-face communication made it easier to actively exchange opinions and to build agood personal network among participants, and increased the quality of the seminar. I strongly hope that thepersonal network that was established during this seminar will continue for a long time to come.

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