1.Main theme of the training course
Implementing effective measures for the treatment of offenders after fifty years of United Nations standard setting in crime prevention and criminal justice. of the State.

2. Rationale
The United Nations adopted the "Standard Minimum Rules for Treatment of Prisoners" at the First Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (hereinafter referred to as "Congress") in 1955, and has adopted so far more than fifty resolutions, declarations, guidelines and codes of conduct concerning crime prevention and criminal justice.¹ In addition to the topic of the treatment of offenders, they now cover very wide and diverse subjects, such as: juvenile justice; the code of conduct of law enforcement officials; independence of the judiciary; prevention of crimes, such as corruption and urban crime; protection of victims; restorative justice, and so on.

Such resolutions, declarations, guidelines and codes of conduct (hereinafter referred to as "United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice") aim at materializing the contents of "the Universal Declaration of Human Rights"² in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice. They do not bind Member States as treaties or conventions do to the signatory states;³ however, the United Nations and Member States have been endeavoring to promote their use and application for many years.

At the first General Assembly of the United Nations of the new century, Member States declared as follows:

We recognize that the United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice contribute to efforts to deal with crime effectively. [...] We shall endeavour, as appropriate, to use and apply the United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice in national law and practice. We undertake to review relevant legislation and administrative procedures, as appropriate, with a view to providing the necessary education and training to the officials concerned and ensuring the necessary strengthening of institutions entrusted with the administration of criminal justice.⁴

Also, the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice supported the application of the United Nations standards and norms "as an important means by which Governments could upgrade criminal justice administration, across sectors, improving professional performance, while safeguarding basic elements of human rights in an integrated manner".⁵

Therefore, the Member States are required to evaluate their practices and to build a fair and effective criminal justice system based on United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice. Many countries endeavor to incorporate United Nations standards and norms in their domestic laws and make use of them in their practice.⁶ It is not an exaggeration to state that the United Nations standards and norms greatly contribute to the improvement of criminal justice systems and their practices, and they now have an undeniably large impact on each state's administration of criminal justice.

In regard to the treatment of offenders, "The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Treatment of Prisoners (hereinafter referred to as "the SMR")",⁷ which was adopted 50 years ago, has great importance among the United Nations standards and norms that have relevance in the field.

The SMR stipulates minimum standards in regard to every aspect of the treatment of all kinds of prisoners and the administration of institutions, such as: provision of adequate accommodation; provision of adequate clothing and medical care; prohibition of cruel punishment; prisoner's right to lodge complaints to the head of the institution; communication with the family; confirmation of the fundamental principle that the treatment of prisoners should aim at their reintegration into society; individualization of treatment and classification, and so on. Many countries promulgate their laws based upon the SMR, and the use and application of the SMR has contributed to the improvement of institutional treatment of offenders.

The importance of the SMR can also be found in the fact that various United Nations standards and norms that are subsequently adopted repeatedly mention that the spirit of the SMR should be reflected.⁸ Moreover, although the Untied Nations had maintained the position that the implementation of the SMR should be left to each country's efforts, it adopted the "Procedure for the effective implementation of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners"⁹ in 1984 and set out practical procedures (dissemination of the SMR; reflection of it in the domestic laws; technical assistance; strengthening of the reporting procedure of the implementation of the SMR in each state; remedies and review and elaboration of the Rules) in order for the basic principles of the SMR to be incorporated into administration of penal confinement institutions. Additionally, in 1990 the General Assembly adopted the "Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners"¹⁰ and clarified the basic principles of the treatment of prisoners, such as all prisoners should "be treated with respect due to their inherent dignity and value as human beings", "believing that full implementation of the SMR would be facilitated by the articulation of basic principles underlying them".¹¹ It also strengthened the contents of the SMR.

When we turn our attention to the actual situation of the treatment of offenders, there are circumstances that impede effective use and application of the United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice, including the SMR, in many countries in the world. The notable increase in the population of various penal confinement institutions is one example. A recent study indicated that 8.75 million people are incarcerated in prisons and the prison population is increasing in many countries.¹²

The capacity of accommodation in prisons cannot catch up with the increased number of prisoners; therefore, overcrowding has become a major issue in many countries. In fact, a report of the Secretary-General stated that "[u]ntil the problem of overcrowding was resolved, efforts to improve other aspects of prison reform were unlikely to have any meaningful impact".¹³ The issues caused by overcrowding have thus become serious.

Even in the situation of overcrowding, however, the responsibilities of a penal institution, as a public organization, are not diminished. These include the responsibility to provide prisoners with a humane environment and treatment programmes that assist their reintegration into society, adequate mechanisms to safeguard their legal rights because prisons are closed institutions and inaccessible. For the general public, the responsibilities of a penal institution include securing confinement of the prisoners and maintaining transparency and accountability as regards the administration of the institution. As the SMR and other United Nations standards and norms that support it include many clauses for such issues, they are still very significant and relevant to the current prison situations.

In view of improving the treatment of offenders, it is not efficient to confine all offenders to penal institutions in order to punish them, regardless of the type of offenders or the types of crime. It is very difficult to provide offenders with effective treatment if the prisons are overcrowded. To incarcerate offenders for minor infractions stigmatizes them unnecessarily, and thus prevents them from reintegrating into society. In such a situation, the introduction of alternatives to incarceration is more appropriate and effective.

By reducing the number of prisoners, the burden of prisons will be mitigated and the proper correctional treatment can be given to those who remain incarcerated. Non-custodial measures are more conducive to social integration of offenders and facilitate their rehabilitation by allowing them continuous contact with the community. They have advantage of: reducing offender stigmatization; avoiding escalation in deviant behavior when new offenders are mixed with hardened criminals; and if the offender remains in employment, allowing him/her to continue contributing towards his/her family in particular, and society in general.

In consideration of the above, in 1990 the General Assembly, based upon the recommendations of the Eighth Congress, adopted "United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (hereinafter referred to as "the Tokyo Rules").¹⁴ The Tokyo Rules indicate guidelines and standards concerning various non-custodial measures. They aim at alleviating problems arising from overcrowding in prisons and at streamlining the administration of criminal justice by promoting less use of confinement, through enhancing the use of alternative measures that can be exercised in society. In this sense, the Tokyo Rules complement the SMR.

However, the current world situation in which many countries face a prison population increase and overcrowding, implies that enhancement of non-custodial measures indicated in the Tokyo Rules have not been fully implemented in such countries.

Giving due consideration to the above rationale, UNAFEI, as one of the regional institutes of the United Nations for Prevention of Crime and for the Treatment of Offenders, intends to study the current situation of the treatment of adult offenders both in institutions and in the society and will explore their improvement for this training course. This will be accomplished mainly referring to the SMR and the Tokyo Rules among numerous United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice.

Thus, the participants are required to: review the history of the respective countries where the United Nations standards and norms concerning treatment of offenders, inter alia the SMR and the Tokyo Rules, have been incorporated in practice or in legislation; confirm the extent that the current system and situation of the practice conform to the United Nations standards and norms; and study the reasons, both the social as well as legal backgrounds if the practice deviates from the United Nations standards and norms. Moreover, the training course will explore measures for effective use and application of United Nations standards and norms by sharing and discussing lessons and successful examples that are provided by the participants.

The focus of discussion in this training course will be as follows:

(1) The current situation and problems of the treatment of offenders in the respective countries
(2) Problems and countermeasures concerning the use and application of United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice (mainly the SMR and the Tokyo Rules)
    (a) Incorporation of United Nations standards and norms in domestic laws and regulations
    (b) Organizations for the treatment of offenders (inspection, transparency, accountability, etc.)
    (c) Personnel in charge of treatment of offenders (recruitment, training, guidance and supervision, etc.)
    (d) System for the treatment of offenders
Systems that guarantee offenders' rights, including grievance mechanisms
Maintenance of discipline and order
Provision of effective treatment programmes
    (e) Understanding and participation of the public
(3) Promotion of international cooperation for development of United Nations standards and norms
    (a) An effective system of reporting to the United Nations
    (b) Technical cooperation

1 Most of these resolutions, declarations, guidelines, and so on, are included in the following compendium. "Compendium of United Nations Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice." United Nations, NY. 1992. It can be obtained at the following Internet site. http://www.uncjin.org/Standards/Compendium/compendium.html.
2 "Universal Declaration of Human Rights." General Assembly Resolution 217A (III). 10 December 1948.
3 Aust, Anthony. "Modern Treaty Law and Practice." Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, UK. 2000: p.44.
4 "Vienna Declaration on Crime and Justice: Meeting the Challenges of the Twenty-first Century." General Assembly Resolution A/55/593. 17 January 2001: Para. 22.
5 United Nations. Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. "Use and application of United Nations standards and norms." E/CN.15/2002/3. 26 February 2002: p.4.
6 http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/crime_cicp_standards.html
7 "World Social Situation." ECOSOC Resolution 663 (XXIV). (Annex: Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.) 31 July 1957.
8 Examples include "United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (The Tokyo Rules)", 4.1; "United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Administration of Juvenile Justice (The Beijing Rules)", 27; and "United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty", preamble.
9 "Procedure for the effective implementation of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Offenders." ECOSOC Resolution 1984/47. 25 May 1984.
10 "Basic principles for the treatment of prisoners." General Assembly Resolution 45/111. 14 December 1990.
11 Ibid.
12 Walmsley, Roy. "Findings 188: World Prison Population List (Fourth Edition)." Home Office, UK. 2003.
13 United Nations. Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. "Use and application of United Nations standards and norms." E/CN.15/2002/3. 26 February 2002: p.12.
14 "United Nations Standards and Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules)." General Assembly Resolution 45/110. 14 December 1990.