MASATO NINOMIYA

Title

Judicial cooperation between brazil and japan in civil and criminal matters.

Abstract

There is a community of about 1,5 million people of Japanese ancestry living in Brazil, thanks to Japanese immigration to this country which began in 1908, and it is considered to be the biggest Japanese community outside of Japan.

Due to the economical crisis in Brazil, Brazilians of Japanese ancestry, the so-called Nikkeis, began to go to Japan to work, in the mid eighties, where was a huge shortage of non skilled labor. There was the reform of Japanese Immigration Law in 1990 and Nikkeis from Brazil and other Latin American countries were allowed to enter Japan as Long Time Residents, which was the visa created to accommodate the presence of Nikkeis in Japan.

The number of Brazilians grew quickly until the end of 2007, when there were about 317,000 Brazilians living in Japan.  However, due to the economical crisis of the so-callled Lehman Schock, about 100,000 Brazilian left the country in the last 5 years.  Nevertheless, there are still about 210,000 Brazilians living in Japan.

It is understandable that with so many Brazilians living in the country, there are many juridical problems arising from this phenomena.  Many cases of letters rogatory about divorces and alimony are coming from Brazil but few numbers among them are successful.  There are also many criminal cases involving Brazilians in Japan both as authors and victims.  Among them, there are many cases of Brazilians who commit crimes in Japan and after that escape to Brazil.  Due to the constitutional prohibition, Brazil does not extradite Brazilians to the jurisdiction of foreign countries.  Therefore, they are sued in Brazil by Brazilian judicial authorities based upon article 7 of Brazilian Penal Code.

In order to facilitate the procedures of sending evidences and also in letters rogatory, it is important to celebrate the judicial cooperation agreement between two countries. 

Short Bio

Brazilian. Born Ueda, Nagano, Japan, November 17, 1948.  Emigrated to Brazil in 1954. 

Academic titles

Bachelor in Law, 1971, Faculty of Law, University of São Paulo

Bachelor in Letters (Japanese and Portuguese languages), 1972, Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences, University of Sao Paulo

Master in Laws, Graduate School of Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo, 1976

Doctor in Laws, Graduate School of Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo. 1981

Academic carrier

Assistant Professor Doctor at Department of International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Sao Paulo, 1986

Professor Doctor of Department of International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Sao Paulo, 1990

 Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo, from 1991 to 2013

Main publications:

Equality of genders in Nationality Law of Japan, Yuhikaku, Tokyo, 1983 (in Japanese)

Brazilian Civil Procedural Code (translation to Japanese language), co-author Koshiro Fujii, Kaleidos Primus, Sao Paulo, 1998

Burajiru ho yosetsu(Introduction to Brazilian Law), co-author Michiro Yatani, Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo, 1998 (in Japanese)

Glossary of Juridical Terms Portuguese-Japanese, co-author with Seiichi Mori,  Yuhikaku, Tokyo, 2000

Soft Power to shite no CIATE – Kokugai Shuuroosha Joohoo Engo Centaa no 20 nen

(CIATE – Center of Information and Support for Workers Abroad – as a Soft Power)

a chapter of Chikyu jidai no Soft Power (Soft Power in the era of globalization), book organized by Sachie Asaka et al, Korosha, 2012 (in Japanese).