G7 Japan 2023
Justice Ministers’ Communiqué
(TOKYO DECLARATION)
7 July 2023 Tokyo
INTRODUCTION
1. We, the Justice Ministers and Attorneys General of Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (US), and the
Commissioner for Justice of the European Union (EU) met with the Justice Minister and
Prosecutor General of Ukraine and representatives of the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) at the
G7 Justice Ministers’Meeting held on 7 July 2023 in Tokyo. The Meeting was held under
the Ministry of Justice of Japan’s "Justice Affairs Diplomacy" initiative as part of its
coordinated diplomatic approach, which aims to uphold and reinforce the free and open
international order based on the rule of law, respecting the UN Charter to the benefit of
countries, large and small.
2. We confirmed our firm resolve to maintain and strengthen the momentum of the
G7 Meeting of Justice Ministers held last year in Berlin under the German Presidency,
and reaffirmed our joint commitment to steadily promote our shared values such as the
rule of law and respect for human rights that serves as the cornerstones of our societies,
particularly in times of unprecedented global challenges. We call on all partners to join
us in working together towards building societies that all people can enjoy.
I. ASSISTING UKRAINE’S REBUILDING EFFORTS IN THE FIELD OF LAW
AND JUSTICE
3. We continue to condemn in the strongest terms Russia’s illegal unprovoked, and
unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine, which constitutes a blatant violation of
international law, and reiterate our unwavering commitment to stand with Ukraine.
4. We reconfirm our steadfast commitments made in the Berlin Declaration
adopted during the G7 Meeting of Justice Ministers held last year, and will continue to
cooperate and coordinate closely with Ukrainian authorities to make all efforts to ensure
accountability for those who are responsible for the atrocity crimes committed in the
course of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, in line with the Berlin Declaration,
as well as with the 19 May, 2023 G7 Leaders’ Statement on Ukraine issued during the
Hiroshima Summit. We will continue to work together with partners to support initiatives
of the G7 and its partners in this regard. We also reconfirm our commitment to support
investigations and prosecutions of atrocity crimes in Ukraine, including those involving
conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence, bearing in mind the important role of
victims and witnesses in the investigation of such crimes and supporting Ukrainian
authorities in this regard. We welcome the start of the operational work of the
International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine at
Eurojust on 3 July, 2023.
5. In addition, as Justice Ministers and Attorneys General of the G7 and
Commissioner of Justice of the EU, we reaffirm our commitment to support Ukraine in
its efforts to "build-back-better", in particular the reforms undertaken in the field of law
and justice. We recognise that such efforts will serve as the foundation of reconstructing
a stronger and more resilient society based on the rule of law and will contribute to
Ukraine’s EU accession process. We commend the work of the G7 Ambassadors’Support
Group for Ukraine in advancing justice and anti-corruption reforms. We welcome and
continue to participate in ongoing bilateral, multilateral and regional efforts to assist
Ukraine, such as the Ukraine Recovery Conference held in London on 21 June, 2023, and
intend to continue to align our efforts to reinforce momentum behind Ukraine’s recovery
and reconstruction. We will continue our efforts to ensure that Russia pays for the long-
term reconstruction of Ukraine and reaffirm that, consistent with our respective legal
systems, Russia's sovereign assets in our jurisdictions remain immobilised until Russia
pays for the damages it has caused to Ukraine.
6. We recognise anti-corruption as a very important area in which the G7 will
endeavour to provide further assistance to Ukraine in this regard, acknowledging the
threat corruption poses to the stability and security of societies, undermining democratic
institutions and values, and jeopardizing the rule of law. We welcome the significant
efforts under way in Ukraine to fight corruption including with support from the
international community. We underscore that anti-corruption efforts are an indispensable
component for the impartial, transparent and just allocation of resources and will be
crucial for ensuring Ukraine emerges from the war even stronger.
7. To this end, we plan to establish the G7 Justice Ministers’"Anti-Corruption Task
Force for Ukraine" (ACT for Ukraine) under the coordination of Japan, as a flexible and
inclusive platform to bring together experts from the G7, Ukraine and relevant
international bodies including the UNDP and UNODC. Through close consultation and
coordination with the G7 Ambassadors’ Support Group in Ukraine as well as existing
partners engaged in anti-corruption work and ongoing initiatives, including the EU
accession process, ACT for Ukraine will serve as a medium to share information and take
stock of ongoing and planned anti-corruption initiatives in Ukraine, analyse the anti-
corruption needs of Ukraine, and develop possible strategies, including the consideration
of useful capacity building and/or technical assistance projects tailored to the needs of
Ukraine.
8. We will also support Ukraine to enhance the capacity of its law enforcement and
justice institutions, as appropriate, through the provision of capacity building programmes
and legal technical assistance. We welcome the cooperation of relevant organisations and
institutions such as the UNDP, UNODC, Organisation for Economic and Co-operation
and Development (OECD), Council of Europe, the International Development Law
Organisation and the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of
Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFEI) with the G7 on these issues.
II. BUILDING COOPERATION AND COORDINATION AMONG THE G7 TO
PROMOTE THE RULE OF LAW
9. We reiterate the important role of the G7 in addressing international issues in the
field of law and justice. We further recognise that cooperation and coordination within
the G7, as well as with relevant organisations and initiatives is a key contributing factor
to promoting the rule of law in the international community. We are committed to working
with our international partners to promote the rule of law globally.
10. We are committed to providing and/or supporting, as appropriate, the provision
of (legal) technical assistance and capacity building to the justice and anti-corruption
sector in other countries and jurisdictions, with a view to promoting shared values. We
recognise our assistance should be based on mutual understanding, and tailored to the
societal, economic, cultural, legal and other backgrounds of the recipient country, while
respecting shared values. In order to strengthen our coordinated approach in delivering
(legal) technical assistance and capacity building, to seek synergies, and to avoid
duplication among initiatives, we intend to explore necessary measures to share
information and liaise between ongoing or planned initiatives.
11. We will work to speed up cooperation and strengthen the fight against the most
serious forms of transnational organised crime, such as by promoting the confiscation of
criminal proceeds and new forms of cooperation, as envisaged by the United Nations
Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (Palermo Convention of 2000).
12. We emphasise our commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and
realisation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that seek to realise the human rights
of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.
Against this background, we reaffirm the role of the G7 in demonstrating global
leadership to promote gender equality, and in fully respecting, promoting, and protecting
the human rights and dignity of women and girls in all their diversity as well as
LGBTQIA+ persons. We endeavour to develop and implement appropriate policies and
plans to achieve gender equality and gender-equal access, and remove impediments to the
advancement of women and girls and women’s empowerment in this regard. We strongly
condemn crimes which target people based on their gender and all forms of sexual and
gender-based violence.
III. CONNECTING THE G7 AND THE INDO-PACIFIC, INCLUDING ASEAN IN
THE FIELD OF LAW AND JUSTICE
13. As we witness grave threats and challenges to the free and open international
order based on the rule of law, we reaffirm the importance of multilateralism and
international cooperation in promoting peace, stability and prosperity and are committed
to take action to strengthen ties with key partners around the globe, including through the
advancement of shared values. In this context, we reiterate the importance of a free and
open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive, prosperous, secure, based on the rule of law, and
that protects shared principles including sovereignty, territorial integrity, peaceful
resolution of disputes, and fundamental freedoms and human rights. We underscore our
shared commitment to strengthen coordination with regional partners, including ASEAN
and its Member States for the advancement of shared values. To this end, under the
initiative of the Japanese G7 Presidency, we were pleased to convene, on the occasion of
this G7 ministerial, the first ever ministerial meeting between ASEAN and G7 in the field
of law and justice, entitled the "ASEAN-G7 Justice Ministers’ Interface". We strongly
welcomed this historic opportunity to meet with Justice Ministers and Attorneys General
of ASEAN Member States and the ASEAN Secretary General.
14. We reaffirm our unwavering support for ASEAN centrality and unity and our
commitment to promoting cooperation in line with the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-
Pacific, which shares fundamental principles with a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP).
We intend to continue to hold dialogue with ASEAN Member States, both bilaterally and
multilaterally, to discuss matters of mutual interest in the field of law and justice. In doing
so, we will respect the diversity ofASEAN Member States and are committed to engaging
with them towards building strong and longstanding relations.
15. We recognise that building such relations requires sustained constructive and
meaningful engagement over the long-term. In particular, we recognise the importance of
supporting the development of and cooperation among the next generation from the G7
and ASEAN Member States, including the role this plays in building mutual trust and
understanding.
16. To this end, we welcome the initiative of the "Next Leaders Forum" initiated by
Japan’s G7 presidency, which will periodically bring together young, promising officials
working in the field of law and justice from the respective Justice and/or other Ministries
of both the G7 and ASEAN Member States. The Forum, will provide our next generation
of leaders the opportunity to meet and discuss common challenges, learn from each other
through the sharing of information, knowledge and best practices, and better understand
how our respective legal systems, despite their differences, can promote and implement
common values. We intend to make efforts to ensure that the Forum will pave the way
towards future-oriented relations between the G7 and ASEAN, and will facilitate further
dialogue based on shared values.
(End)