Statement by Ambassador Mr. Toshiro OZAWA at the 21st Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, on Agenda Item 7 : Follow-up to the Twelfth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and preparations for the Thirteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Thank you Madam Chairperson,

(Introduction)

First of all, I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the efforts and initiatives made by the distinguished delegates of Canada, Thailand and Finland in putting forward the draft resolution on the preparation for the Thirteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

Japan is very interested in how the new approach, to focus on an outward-looking theme that would fit within the broader global agenda, might develop during our course of deliberation.  We also take note with great interest the proposals made by GRULAC, the African Group, Thailand and other Members States on the possible Overall Theme, Agenda items and the Workshop topics.

We reaffirm our common understanding that timely and effective preparation is of utmost importance in order to achieve a successful outcome at the 13th Crime Congress.

(Outcome of the Congress)

Madam Chairperson,

While we continue our deliberation on the Overall Theme, Agenda items and Workshop topics as well as the structure of the Congress and process of preparation, we should always bear in mind our goals for the outcome of the Congress.  More specifically, the question is, what do we want as our political declaration?

In this regard, Madam Chairperson,

Japan firmly believes that the political declaration must be concise and focused.  Since the Crime Congress is a consultative body, as stated in General Assembly Resolution 46/152, the Congress must be able to provide through its political declaration a focused perspective, for high-level policy makers as well as for the experts on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice from all over the world.

Endless negotiations for a lengthy and overly detailed political declaration will limit the opportunity for participants to exchange their views and experiences.Moreover, if we end up with a lengthy and overly detailed declaration, the Commission would most likely get caught up in the follow-up of the declaration, and have difficulty fulfilling its policy-guiding function.

Therefore, Madam Chairperson,

Japan would like to emphasize the importance of our effort to keep the political declaration as concise and focused as possible.

(Overall Theme and Agenda)

Madam Chairperson,

In order to come away with a concise and focused political declaration, the declaration should be in line with what is discussed by the delegates under the Agenda items and at the Workshops.  We must refrain from including issues in our political declaration that have less relevance to the discussion under the Agenda items and at the Workshops.

In this regard, if we are to have a broad and outward-looking Overall Theme that addresses the global agenda, we should also bear in mind that we need to develop well- focused Agenda items from which we can draw focused outcomes.

Madam Chairperson,

I would like to stress that the Agenda items should reflect the needs and interests of the main stakeholders of the Congress, namely high-level policy makers, and the experts and practitioners of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.  Also, Japan firmly believes that we need to develop precisely defined topics for the Agenda items in order to ensure focused and productive discussion among delegates.

(Workshops)

With regard to the Workshop topics, Madam Chairperson,

Japan is fully aware of and reaffirms the recommendations made by the intergovernmental experts group in 2007, that Workshops should have narrower scope, targeting specific issues.  We firmly believe that the Workshops should be practice-oriented and should focus on practical solutions.  Overly broad and ambitious topics therefore may not be suitable for the Workshops.  Also, we should avoid creating sub-topics for the Workshops that do not clearly interrelate to each other.  If we are to create sub-topics for the Workshops, these subtopics should facilitate the comprehensive and integrated approach of the Workshops and address each of their specific topics.

While we greatly appreciate Canada’s effort and initiative to put together a working paper as our starting point for discussion, we noticed that there was no Agenda item or Workshop topic that specifically focused on the issue of treatment of offenders.  The issue of the treatment of offenders has always been at the core of the Congress, ever since its origin as the International Prison Congress in the late 19th century.   Japan would like to emphasize that correction, treatment and reintegration of offenders is one of the most important aspects of crime prevention and a fundamental element for sustainable development.  Therefore, Japan suggests that we keep at least one topic for the Workshop that specifically addresses the issue of the treatment of offenders.

(Our Commitment to the Deliberation with Reference to the Proposals made by Regional Groups and Member States)

As I have mentioned earlier, Madam Chairperson,

Workshops should have a narrower scope, targeting specific issues drawn from the Agenda items for practical solutions.  In this sense, it is somewhat difficult for us to suggest specific topics for the Workshop at this point since we are not yet certain of the Agenda items from which we should point out the targets for proposed solutions.

However, Japan takes note with great interest the proposals made by the Regional Groups and the Member States, especially the proposal by GRULAC pointing to citizen participation.  I wish to mention that Japan has successfully introduced citizen participation in criminal trials, known as the Citizen Judge system.  This is why we are particularly supportive of the proposals made by GRULAC that focuses on the agenda items regarding citizen participation and criminal justice reform.   With such proposed Agenda items of preference in mind, we are currently in consultation with UNAFEI, the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, the Programme Network Institute in Japan, which has contributed to the work of the Congress over the past several decades.  We would like to continue to commit ourselves to the deliberation related to the Overall Theme and Agenda items, bearing in mind the specific issues to which the Workshops could provide practical solutions.

(Concluding remarks)

I would like to conclude my statement by reaffirming our Government’s commitment to the efforts to effectively prepare for the next Crime Congress, with confidence that our deliberations will bear fruit and ultimately lead to a successful outcome at the 13th Crime Congress.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson.