2003 JAPAN LAW: JAPAN - US CRIME TREATY
Keywords: Treaty, Criminal Law, Witnesses, Extradition
Copyright 2004. All rights reserved Attorney Roderick H. Seeman
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Japan and the United States have concluded a treaty whereby the police authorities will be able to directly contact each other on criminal investigations, without going through the usual diplomatic channels, removing red tape and speeding investigations. The governments will cooperate in exchanging evidence and questioning suspects and witnesses. It will be possible to send prisoners to the other country to testify in courts. The existing extradition treaty only permits  extraditions for offenses which would be crimes in both nations. The Japanese government looks likely to extradite to the US a Japanese scientist accused of stealing genetic material from a research facility in the USA. The Japanese government decided those actions were similar to theft and destruction of property, crimes in Japan. This is the first case  using the US Economic Espionage Act. That law also encouraged Japan to criminalize revealing business secrets by amending the Unfair Competition Prevention law in Japan.