The Japanese government thereby provides assistance through the ODA budget to countries which they define as in the process of revising their systems from socialism to democracy or promoting market-oriented reforms. In the General Principles of the ODA Charter, it is stipulated that "assistance will pay particular attention to developing countries which promote democratization or make an effort to introduce market-oriented reforms as well as take measures to protect human rights." Based upon the General Principles of the ODA Charter, the government considers building a modern legal system as a form of 'intellectual assistance.' Intellectual assistance is that assistance which Japan provides to countries in transition which face obstacles ace obstacles due to lack of knowledge on how to proceed with democratization or how to introduce market-oriented economic reforms as well as lacking the human resources necessary to deal with the new situation.

In 1995, Japan introduced "key government policy support" to assist fwith the major decision making processes in fields such as finance, industry and regional development. These programs are currently in force in Poland and Uzbekistan, but if we limit the current discussion to assistance in constructing modern legal systems, this category has only been put into practice in Vietnam, beginning in 1996, and in Cambodia beginning in March 1999.