With international exchanges of people and goods expanding at an accelerated pace, cross-border organized crime is also rising rapidly. In a concerted effort to combat the globalization of crime, the United Nations in 1999 set up a special panel to work out a global anticrime treaty. Now that drafting is in its final stages, the treaty is expected to be given a green light at the General Assembly by the end of the year.

All signatories to the treaty will be required to take legislative measures to ensure compliance. In Japan's case, the investigative and judicial cooperation system, for instance, will have to be changed, in part because domestic laws do not give foreign witnesses immunity from criminal prosecution -- a privilege that would be granted under the proposed pact.

The international community has long been aware of the need for a comprehensive treaty against organized crime. The subject was broached for the first time six years ago, and in 1998 the U.N. General Assembly decided to create an ad hoc committee to draft such a treaty. The panel, represented by about 135 countries, is also drawing up three protocols to control trafficking in women and children, illegal immigration and gun smuggling.