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FPCJ invited Mr. Hiroyuki Shinkai, Principal Researcher, Research Department, Research and Training Institute, Ministry of Justice, to overview the White Paper on Crime 2013, which was reported to the Cabinet on November 15. The briefing was attended by a total of 12 people, including seven journalists from France, Germany, the ROK and the US.

After introducing some points including the trends in the number of reported criminal cases and the clearance rate for penal code offenses, and the number and rate of repeat offenders, Mr. Shinkai detailed
the 2013 edition’s two special articles “Female Criminality and Delinquency” and “Globalization and Criminal Policy.” As regards “Female Criminality and Delinquency,”
a large number of young female inmates were stimulant drug offenders, while female inmates aged 65 or over were theft offenders. Mr. Shinkai also pointed out the problems of overcrowding female penal institutions because there were not enough number of them, and that no separation of inmates according to the seriousness of their offenses is made. He stressed the need for development of treatment programs that referred to the particular needs of female offenders. As a result of special studies of “Globalization and Criminal Policy,” he explained that the current status of offenses committed by foreigners are not aggravating even under the development of globalization but
foreign inmates who were illegal residents tended to commit serious crimes and countermeasures were needed
. At the same time Japan needs to develop effective countermeasures against transnational crime.

In the question-and-answer session, Mr. Shinkai referred to the trends in the number of cases of organized crime, total financial damage of special fraud cases including remittance scams, and current situation of human trafficking in Japan.