The second meeting of the G7 Justice Ministers was held on Friday 7 July (see EUROPE 13218/10) in Tokyo. “A historic moment to strengthen cooperation in the field of law and justice, based on dialogue and respect”, declared the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, at the meeting, to which the Justice Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were invited.
At the end of the Summit, the Justice Ministers of the world’s major powers adopted the Tokyo Declaration. The agreement has three main strands: aid for reconstruction in Ukraine, mainly in the areas of law and justice; enhanced cooperation within the G7 to promote the Rule of law; and greater coordination with the Indo-Pacific region, including the ASEAN countries.
The G7 Justice Ministers have announced their intention to create an Anti-Corruption Task Force for Ukraine (‘ACT for Ukraine’), a “flexible and inclusive” platform to bring together experts from the world’s leading powers, Ukraine and relevant international institutions – including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). This new entity would share information and take stock of “ongoing and planned anti-corruption initiatives in Ukraine”.
In addition, the G7 justice ministers affirmed that, in terms of the Rule of law, they would provide assistance based on “on mutual understanding, and tailored to the societal, economic, cultural, legal and other backgrounds of the recipient country”, while respecting shared values.
They underlined their commitment to implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, launched in 2015 under the aegis of the United Nations, and taking action to achieve its 17 goals “that seek to realise the human rights of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”.
Finally, the Justice Ministers of the Group of Seven stated that they hoped to “to hold dialogue with ASEAN Member States, both bilaterally and multilaterally, to discuss matters of mutual interest in the field of law and justice”.
To this end, the ministers welcomed the establishment of the “Next Leaders Forum”, an initiative taken by the Japanese Presidency of the G7, which will periodically bring together “young and promising” officials working in the fields of law and justice within the Ministry of Justice or other ministries of the G7 and ASEAN Member States.
To read the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/7zn (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)