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Date: Monday, October 27, 2025 – Friday, October 31, 2025
Visits: JICA Headquarters, Japan Federation of Bar Associations, Ministry of Justice, Supreme Public Prosecutors Office, Supreme Court, Ho Terasu Tokyo, Embassy of Laos in Tokyo, Keio University Mita Campus (in order of visit)
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In October 2025, the year of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Laos, eight senior legal and judicial officials from four counterpart institutions (Supreme People’s Court, Supreme People’s Prosecutors Office, Ministry of Justice, and National University of Laos) of JICA’s technical cooperation project with the Lao government, “Project to Promote Development of Rule of Law – Phase 2”, visited Japan. The eight officials, including the Vice President of the Supreme People’s Court, the Vice President of the Supreme People’s Prosecutor’s Office, the Vice Minister of Justice, and the Vice President of the National University of Laos, are from the four counterparts of the project.
JICA has been cooperating in the field of law and justice in Laos since 1998 and has achieved the following results: the establishment of the Civil Code in 2018, the preparation of teaching materials and office reference materials in the fields of civil and criminal law, the improvement of understanding of legal theory by legal and judicial staff and university faculty, mainly from the above four institutions, and the improvement of legal operational practice The following is a summary of the results of the project.
This visit to Japan was conducted as an invitation program to review the past cooperation and achievements between Japan and Laos in the fields of law and justice, and to discuss future prospects for cooperation. The Japanese organizations that visited Laos welcomed the Laotian officials and expressed their hope that the textbooks and office materials obtained through years of cooperation would be utilized in human resource development and that cooperation would continue to progress further in the future.
On October 30 and 31, Advisory Group members, Professor Hiroshi Matsuo (Keio University Graduate School of Law) and Professor Ryo Ida (Chuo University Graduate School of Law), discussed current issues and future directions in Lao law and justice at Keio University’s Mita Campus. The discussion included issues in the current Lao law and judiciary, as well as the future direction that should be taken. The importance of strengthening educational and research institutions, including universities, and utilizing judicial precedents was emphasized.
JICA will continue to promote activities to develop and promote the rule of law in Laos in cooperation with relevant Japanese organizations.
Courtesy call on JICA Director Naoki Ando
Discussion with Advisory Group members Prof. Hiroshi Matsuo and Prof. Ryo Ida
At the Ministry of Justice
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