Nobuhiro Matsuo
Counsel
Overview
Nobuhiro Matsuo served as a public prosecutor at prosecutor's offices in Japan for about 10 years from 2005, handling a wide range of criminal cases including economic crimes. In 2015, he joined the International Cooperation Department of the Research and Training Institute of the Ministry of Justice, where he was engaged in providing legal system development support for Asian countries. In 2017, he was dispatched to Vietnam as a long-term legal expert under a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) project, collaborating with legal and judicial institutions of Vietnam to share practical knowledge and experiences of Japan’s legal system. In 2019, he was awarded the "Commemorative Medal for Contribution to Procuracy Operations" by the Supreme People's Procuracy of Vietnam. After returning to Japan, he resumed prosecutorial duties before registering as an attorney-at-law.
Currently, he focuses primarily on corporate criminal risk and compliance, while expanding his activities into international legal affairs and legal education, providing a wide range of legal support. Drawing on his prosecutorial experience, he supports companies in early-stage information gathering, hypothesis building, responding to investigative authorities, and conducting internal investigations, aiming to minimize risks at the pre-indictment stage and reduce reputational damage through strategic corporate defense. He also leverages his experience working with Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries to assist with anti-bribery compliance and the development of cross-border compliance structures. In addition, he leads pro bono activities by organizing inquiry-based legal education programs at public schools to promote practical legal literacy, applying this educational approach to corporate compliance training as well. He has business-level proficiency in English and is capable of handling legal documents in Vietnamese.
Publications and Articles
"Overview of Vietnam's 2015 Criminal Procedure Code", ICD NEWS No. 79, International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Justice's Research and Training Institute, June 2019
"Overview of Vietnam's 2015 Penal Code", ICD NEWS No. 80, September 2019
Revised and supplemented translation of Vietnam's 2015 Penal Code (after the 2017 revision and supplementation), the Ministry of Justice's website
Revised and supplemented translation of Vietnam's 2015 Criminal Procedure Code (same as above)
"Phone fraud cases : Successfully conducted investigation through the use of related laws and regulations to establish the facts of the crime and to successively secure the custody of the suspects for pushing-up investigations", Sousa Kenkyu, Tokyo Horei Publishing, June 2011
"Intention is Embodied in Action - From Two Common Cases", Sousa Kenkyu. Tokyo Horei Publishing, October 2013
"The Challenge of establishing "Law Learning and Exploration Club" in Japanese elementary school" ("Law and Education" Vol.15, 2024, Shoji Homu Co., Ltd.)
Work History
2004 Judicial apprentice at the Supreme Court
2005-2015 Prosecutor, local prosecutor's offices (Tokyo,Osaka,Hiroshima,Chiba,Yokohama,Okayama)
2015-2017 Government Attorney, the International Cooperation Department (ICD) of the Ministry of Justice's Research and Training Institute
2017-2019 Long-term legal expert in Vietnam, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
2019-2023 Prosecutor, local prosecutor's offices (Tokyo, Mito, Chiba)
2023 Registered with the Tokyo Bar Association and joined GI&T Law Office, LC
Education and Admission
Nobuhiro received his LLB from Kyoto University. He is a member of the Tokyo Bar Association and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. He is also a non-voting member of Committee for International Judicial Cooperations of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations and a member of Special Committee for Countermeasures for Anti-social Forces of the Tokyo Bar Association. In addition, he is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) accredited by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).
Languages
- Japanese, English, Vietnamese