The Fujimori Case: Notes for a Legal Strategy Regarding Japan

On November 19, 2000, the then-sitting President of the Republic of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, arrived in Tokyo on an unplanned stopover from Brunei and, by fax, committed the crime of abandoning his post. This is how the "Fujimori case" began — as it has come to be called — presenting itself as a complex matter involving various branches of law, including constitutional, criminal, civil, administrative, and both public and private international law, raising numerous questions, both theoretical and practical, in each of them. The purpose of this study is to offer some answers, from the perspective of public international law, to the many questions the case raises, without claiming to cover the full scope of the problem in all its facets. The chosen approach is limited to rebutting the assertions advanced so far by the Japanese side to the effect that Fujimori is Japanese and that Japan does not extradite its nationals. The perspective adopted is that of a case before the International Court of Justice to contest those claims.