INTRODUCTORY NOTE
It is with pride that the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crimeand the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFEI) offers to the international community the Resource
Material Series No. 78.
This volume contains the Annual Report for 2008 and the work produced in the 139 thInternational Training Course which was conducted from 19 May to 27 June 2008. The main
theme of the 139th Course was “Profiles and Effective Treatments of Serious and Violent JuvenileOffenders”.
Even in instances where juveniles commit very serious and violent offences, we cannot lose
sight of the fundamental philosophy of juvenile justice: the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. Theproblem areas of juvenile offenders relevant to serious and violent crimes have to be clarified inorder to create proper justice systems and treatment programmes. Although these problems ofjuvenile offenders are seriously complicated, and are deeply rooted in their mental, psychological,
family, school and social situations, it is our obligation to continue our efforts to discover the causesof these problems and find methods to solve them.
The United Nations has tried to establish rules and regulations for the purpose of proper
juvenile justice administration and treatment. “The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for
the Administration of Juvenile Justice” (The Beijing Rules) outlines basic philosophies such as
respecting human rights, pursuing the best interest of juveniles and exploiting social resources,and especially, promoting diversion systems. This rule, together with “The United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child” and “The United Nations Guidelines for the Preventionof Juvenile Delinquency” (The Riyadh Guidelines), provides that treatment programmes in thecommunity must be prioritized because of their protective and rehabilitative value. Treatment
in institutions must be a last resort, but remains necessary, for example, in cases of deteriorated
criminal tendencies and other problems. “The United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles
Deprived of Their Liberty” was enacted to prevent inappropriate treatments and the infringementof the human rights of juveniles. More than that, the United Nations recognizes the importanceof the development of effective treatment programmes for those accommodated in institutions.
Paragraph 9 of resolution 45/113 (1990) of the UN General Assembly, which adopted the rule,
asserts that it is indispensable for Member States to consider treatment methods for serious
and persistent young offenders and requests the UN Secretary-General to report the resultsof considerations at the Ninth UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment ofOffenders.
Despite the efforts of the UN Member States to solve these problems, juvenile offending
remains a problem all over the world, involving crimes like terrorism, child abuse, domestic
violence, gun massacres, gang conflicts, and so on. There is an urgent need for us to establish
proper justice systems and to implement effective assessment and treatment methods for these
serious and critical cases.
UNAFEI, as a regional institute of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Justice Programme
Network, decided to hold this Course in order to provide an opportunity for juvenile criminal
justice personnel to consider the various issues for the purpose of clarifying challenges anddiscovering solutions suitable for their own countries.
In this issue, in regard to the 139th Course, papers contributed by visiting experts, selectedindividual presentation papers from among the participants, and the Reports of the Course arepublished. I regret that not all the papers submitted by the Course participants could be published.
I would like to pay tribute to the contributions of the Government of Japan, particularly thev

Ministry of Justice, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the Asia Crime Prevention
Foundation for providing indispensable and unwavering support to UNAFEI’s international trainingprogrammes.
Finally I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all who so unselfishly assisted in thepublication of this series; in particular, the editor of Resource Material Series No. 78, Ms. GraceLord.
September 2009

Masaki Sasaki
Director, UNAFEIvi