Japan's judicial diplomacy at crossroads as Laos enacts civil code

Legal assistance to Southeast Asia brings result, but budget constraints loom

20200511 Lao Japan legal

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, center, and Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, right, pose at the East Asia Summit in Thailand in 2019.  © AP

SHUICHIRO SESE, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- A quarter-century of Japanese "judicial diplomacy" is bearing fruit in Southeast Asia. On May 27, Laos became the third country in Southeast Asia, after Vietnam and Cambodia, to introduce a civil code with Japanese support.

Japan's long-term engagement on the topic has resulted in it being allowed for the first time to participate in a conference of senior legal officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The ASEAN Senior Law Officials Meeting, or ASLOM, will discuss cybersecurity and other cross-border legal issues.

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