Japan

Act on Cooperation with the International Criminal Court

Chapter II Cooperation with the International Criminal Court

Section 2 Provision of Evidence, etc.

Subsection 1 Provision of Evidence

(Measures by the Minister of Justice)
Article 6 (1) Where the Minister of Justice has received documents sent by the Minister of Foreign Affairs pursuant to the provisions of Article 4 concerning a request for cooperation through provision of evidence, when the case does not fall under any of the following items, the Minister of Justice shall take the measures prescribed in the following paragraph or paragraph (3):

(i) when the request for cooperation competes with a request for assistance as prescribed in Article 1, item (i) of the Act on International Assistance in Investigations and Other Related Matters (Act No. 69 of 1980) (hereinafter referred to as "Investigation Assistance" in this item and Article 39, paragraph (1), item (ii)) and, where it is possible to give priority to such request for assistance pursuant to the provisions of the Statute, when the Minister of Justice finds it reasonable to provide said Investigation Assistance;
(ii) when complying with the request for cooperation would result in a breach of any of the obligations under international law prescribed in article 98, paragraph 1 of the Statute;
(iii) when complying with the request for cooperation would prejudice Japan's national security;
(iv) where the offense underlying the cooperation request is an offense prescribed in article 70, paragraph 1 of the Statute, when the act constituting the offense for which assistance is requested would not constitute a crime under the laws and regulations of Japan were it to have been carried out in Japan;
(v) when complying with the request for cooperation would risk obstructing an investigation or trial in a case that is connected with a crime other than the offense underlying the cooperation request, and that is being investigated by a Japanese public prosecutor, public prosecutor's assistant officer, or judicial police official or is pending before a Japanese court, and the Minister of Justice finds it unreasonable to immediately comply with said request; or
(vi) when there are other justifiable grounds for not immediately complying with the request for cooperation.

Keywords

Refusal of ICC request



EDIT.