State Practice of Asian Countries in International Law: Japan

Japan enacted the Amended Act on Punishment of Organized Crimes and Control of Crime Proceeds (also referred to as “the Act on Punishment of the Preparation of Acts of Terrorism and Other Organized Crimes”) on 15 June 2017 and it entered into force on 11 July 2017. This Act aims to implement UNTOC (United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime). Japan signed the UNTOC in 2003. However, it had not implemented the agreement before this enactment, since under the Japanese criminal law system, the mere existence of a “plan” or “preparatory action” to commit a crime is by no means