The Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) held a Seminar on International Legal Technical Assistance on September 14 in Tokyo. The seminar reported the JFBA’s experiences in providing international legal technical assistance to bar associations in, Vietnam, Mongolia and the Kingdom of Cambodia.

At the beginning of the seminar, Mr. Kimitoshi Yabuki explained the purpose of this seminar, which was to share the experiences of JFBA members who had been engaged in legal technical assistance for Asian bar associations and attorneys as such assistance has been crucial in establishing the rule of law throughout the Asian region.

JFBA members who had been engaged in legal technical assistance reported on their activities in each country. Mr. Shunji Miyake reported on JFBA activities in the Kingdom of Cambodia which mainly concerned seminars designed to train Cambodian lawyers to be instructors in Cambodian civil law. Ms. Miha Isoi reported on assistance in Mongolia in order to enhance the activities of the Association of Mongolian Advocates, including the publication of its journals and support in operating the Conciliation Center established within the association. From Mr. Takayuki Ishinada, we heard about the workshops conducted in Vietnam for the establishment of a unified bar association in that country. Mr. Masanori Tanabe reported on the training programme for Mongolian lawyers conducted by the Aichi Bar Association as a part of its assistance for the Association of Mongolian Advocates.

Following the reports, a panel discussion was held with the above presenters acting as panelists and the meaning of assistance to bar associations was discussed along with issues to be solved in providing assistance, and objectives and perspectives for the future. They actively exchanged their opinions and one panelist mentioned that in the countries where lawyers had a lower status, it was difficult for individual lawyers to challenge other authorities. However, if their respective bar organizations were enhanced, they would be able to more successfully represent individual lawyers as counterparts to such authorities.