Judges, prosecutors, and lawyers from 10 Latin American countries yesterday inaugurated a conference in San José that will focus on penal system reforms, using Japan as an example.

“Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world,” said Elías Carranza, director of the U.N.'s Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD).

He told The Tico Times the biggest problem in Costa Rica, which he said has one of the best penal systems in the Americas, is the lack of public defenders.

Conference attendees will spend the next 10 days analyzing the role of public defenders and prosecutors in criminal processes and the main problems for justice systems in Latin America. They will also get to know the success story of Japan.

Costa Rica's Supreme Court president Luis Paulina Mora and Chief Prosecutor Francisco Dall'Anese are among speakers scheduled to appear.