Japan and Thailand have agreed to procedures to transfer the Japanese persons sentenced to imprisonment by a court in Thailand back to their homeland under certain conditions, and vise versa.

An agreement to this effect was recently signed by Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone and his Thai counterpart, Kasit Piromya, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Thailand’s southern province of Phuket, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

This is the first time for Japan to sign a bilateral treaty on the transfer of sentenced persons.

The ministry stressed that the conclusion of the Treaty Between Japan and Thailand on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and Co-operation in the Enforcement of Sentences will contribute to facilitate the rehabilitation and social reintegration of the sentenced persons, and is expected to contribute to develop the bilateral cooperation in the field of criminal law.

This agreement will be submitted to the Japanese parliament for approval./.