The Department of Justice today announced the signing of a Framework Agreement between the DOJ and the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Foreign and International Criminal Law of Germany.

The MPI is a leading research organization that studies criminal law theories using a comparative approach. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach that includes criminology to improve peace and order, stability in society.

"We are very happy to enter into this partnership. It is the first of its kind in Asia and will significantly contribute to the quality of our inputs to legislation. We will also offer the center at the service of all justice stakeholders," said Secretary of Justice Leila M. de Lima.

The DOJ-MPI's first joint effort is on benchmarking the work of the Criminal Code Committee tasked to codify the fragmented criminal laws in the country estimated at more than 400. Global best practices and tested criminal law philosophies will be injected into Books 1 and 2 of the new Criminal Code. The Hanns Seidel Foundation is currently a partner institution of the DOJ on this project.

"The establishment of a knowledge center in Manila is an exciting development for 'us. It will complete our study on comparative criminal law," said Professor Ulrich Sieber, the MPI Director in charge of the program. "I know the deep research talent and the high English proficiency in the Philippines," he added.

Among the key results of the DOJ-MPI Justice Research Center is the publication of papers on legal, policy and institutional challenges to effective criminal law enforcement.