Anti-Conspiracy Bill


The so-called Anti-Conspiracy Bill, a bill intended to modify the Act on Punishment of Organized Crimes and Control of Crime Proceeds, was submitted to the Japanese National Diet on 21 March 2017 and passed on 15 June 2017.

Letter from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy

In a letter dated 18 May 2017, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to privacy, Joseph Cannataci wrote a letter to the Japanese Prime-Minister, Shinzō Abe, expressing concerns about the bill. The United Nations Special Rapporteur is an individual, independent expert appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate, monitor, advise upon, and publicize the human rights situation in specific countries. Joseph Cannataci wrote that the bill,
and that,
At a press conference on May 22, the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga
responded aggressively to the letter, saying, "The letter was released
unilaterally without the Japanese government or the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs having had the opportunity to directly explain the
legislation. The content was inappropriate, and we
lodged a strong protest" with Cannataci. Cannataci responded in a second letter that "The 'strong protest' received from the Japanese government was just angry words
but no substance" "It did not address even one of my many concerns about privacy or other defects.", "There is absolutely no justification for the Japanese government to behave in this way and push through seriously defective legislation in such a rush."

Background

The reason this law was created was to address United_Nations_Convention_against_Transnational_Organized_Crime international treaty.
As for the theft of forest products, it has been suggested that it could be a potential source of funding for terrorism. Japan became the 188th country to become a party to an international treaty.