Act on General Rules for Application of Laws

法の適用に関する通則法（ほうのてきようにかんするつうそくほう）

Which country's law governs a matter that crosses borders — a contract, a tort (不法行為, a wrongful act that harms someone), a marriage, a child, an inheritance — together with when an Act takes effect and when a custom counts as law.

Text in force since
Promulgated
Articles: 43
Amendments on the way: 1

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What this law does

An Act (法律) takes effect once twenty days have passed, counting from the day it is promulgated (公布), unless an Act sets a different day. A custom not contrary to public order or good morals has the same force as an Act, but only where laws and regulations (法令) recognise it or it concerns a matter they do not provide for.(Art. 2(1), Art. 3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

Read the full overview

Whether a contract or other juridical act (法律行為) was formed, and what effect it has, is governed by the law of the place the parties chose when they made it — the governing law (準拠法). Without a choice, the law of the place most closely connected with it at that time governs: where only one party makes the characteristic performance, that is presumed to be the law of that party's habitual residence () — or, if it has a place of business connected with the act, the law where that place is (its principal one, if it has several in places under different laws) — and for real property, the law of the place where the property is. The parties may change the governing law later, but the change cannot be asserted against a third party whose rights it would harm.(Art. 7(1), Art. 8(1), Art. 8(2), Art. 8(3), Art. 9(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
The form (方式) of a juridical act is valid if it meets the law governing the act's formation — the law before any later change by the parties — or the law of the place where the act was done; a declaration of intent to someone in a place under a different law counts as done where its notice was sent from. A contract between people in places under different laws is valid in form if it meets the law governing its formation or the law of the place from which either the offer or the acceptance was sent; the place-of-act rule does not apply to it. For an act creating or disposing of a real right (物権) in movable or real property, or another right that must be registered, only the law governing its formation counts.(Art. 10(1), Art. 10(2), Art. 10(3), Art. 10(4), Art. 10(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
Real rights (物権) in movable or real property, and other rights that must be registered, are governed by the law of the place where the thing is — and whether one was acquired or lost, by the law of where the thing was when the facts causing that were completed. A claim from managing another's affairs without being asked to (事務管理) or from unjust enrichment (不当利得) follows the law of the place where the facts causing it occurred, unless another place is obviously more closely connected, and the parties may change that law afterwards, though not against a third party whose rights the change would harm. Whether an assignment of a claim takes effect against the debtor and other third parties is decided by the law governing the assigned claim.(Art. 13(1), Art. 13(2), Art. 14(1), Art. 15(1), Art. 16(1), Art. 23(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
A person's capacity to act (行為能力) is governed by their national law () — the law of the country of their nationality. A person whose capacity is limited under that law is treated as having full capacity if the law of the place where they acted gives it to them and all the parties were in places under the same law at the time. That exception does not apply to acts governed by family or inheritance law, or to acts on real property in a place whose law differs from the place of the act.(Art. 4(1), Art. 4(2), Art. 4(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
A claim arising from a tort (不法行為) — harm wrongfully done to another — is governed by the law of the place where the result of the wrongful act occurred, or, if a result there could not ordinarily be foreseen, the law of the place where the act was done. Where another place is obviously more closely connected — because the parties had their habitual residence (常居所) in places under the same law, or the tort broke a contract between them, for example — that place's law governs instead. After the tort, the parties may change the governing law, but not against a third party whose rights the change would harm.(Art. 17(1), Art. 20(1), Art. 21(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Whether a marriage is validly formed is decided for each party by their own national law (本国法). Its form follows the law of the place where it is celebrated, or the national law of either party — except that a marriage celebrated in Japan in which one party is a Japanese national must follow the form of the place of celebration.(Art. 24(1), Art. 24(2), Art. 24(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
The effects of a marriage, and a divorce, are governed by the spouses' common national law (本国法); failing that, the law of their common habitual residence (常居所); failing both, the law of the place most closely connected with them. A divorce is governed by Japanese law, however, if either spouse is a Japanese national with habitual residence in Japan.(Art. 25(1), Art. 27(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
The spouses' property system (夫婦財産制) follows the same order as the effects of marriage, unless they choose, in a document they both sign and date, the law of a country of either's nationality, of either's habitual residence (常居所), or, for real property, of where it is — a choice that works only for the future. A property system under a foreign law cannot be asserted against a third party acting in good faith as to acts done in Japan or property in Japan, and Japanese law governs between them, unless a marital property contract (夫婦財産契約) made under that foreign law has been registered in Japan.(Art. 26(1), Art. 26(2), Art. 26(3), Art. 26(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
A child is born in wedlock (嫡出) if the national law (本国法) of either spouse at the time of the birth makes it so; for a child born out of wedlock, the relationship with the father follows the father's national law at the birth, and with the mother the mother's, and a husband or father who died before the birth counts by his national law at death. An acknowledgment of a child (認知) may follow that law or the national law of the acknowledging parent or of the child at the time of acknowledgment, but whichever is used, any consent of the child or another person that the child's national law at the time of acknowledgment requires must also be given. A child is legitimated (準正), and gains the status of a child born in wedlock, if the national law of the father, the mother or the child, when the facts required for it were completed, provides for it; a person who died before an acknowledgment, or before those facts were completed, counts by their national law at death.(Art. 28(1), Art. 28(2), Art. 29(1), Art. 29(2), Art. 29(3), Art. 30(1), Art. 30(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Adoption follows the adoptive parent's national law (本国法) at the time of the adoption, together with any consent, or permission of a public body, that the adoptee's national law requires; the same law governs ending the adoptee's ties with their birth family and dissolving the adoption (離縁). The legal relationship between parents and child follows the child's national law if it is the same as the father's or the mother's (or the other parent's alone, where one has died or is unknown), and otherwise the law of the child's habitual residence (常居所); other family relationships follow the national law of the people concerned. The form (方式) of a family-law act under Articles 25 to 33 is valid if it meets the law governing the act's formation or the law of the place where it was done.(Art. 31(1), Art. 31(2), Art. 32(1), Art. 33(1), Art. 34(1), Art. 34(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Inheritance is governed by the national law (本国法) of the person who died. Whether a will was validly made, and what effect it has, are governed by the testator's national law when it was made, and its revocation by their national law at the time of revocation.(Art. 36(1), Art. 37(1), Art. 37(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Where a rule points to a person's national law (本国法) and they hold several nationalities, it is the law of the one of those countries where they have their habitual residence (常居所), failing that the one most closely connected with them — but Japanese law if one of the nationalities is Japanese. A stateless person's national law is replaced by the law of their habitual residence, except in the rules on the effects of marriage, marital property, divorce and the parent-child relationship; an unknown habitual residence is replaced by the person's residence, except in the rules on the effects of marriage, marital property and divorce. For a national of a country whose law differs by region or by personal group, their national law is the law that country's own rules designate, or, without such rules, the region's or group's law most closely connected with them.(Art. 38(1), Art. 38(2), Art. 38(3), Art. 39(1), Art. 40(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

Article 1 sets out what this Act covers (趣旨)

Governing law of contractsEmployment contractsConsumer contractsTortsInternational marriageInternational divorceInheritanceNational law of dual nationals and stateless persons

43 89 10 2 12

Amendments

A Japanese law is changed by another law or order that rewrites it — an . This law has 1 amendment on the way — , but . Its amendment history is below. The amendments this site has read the changes of are on this law's amendments page, provision by provision, in Japanese and English.

Date not yet set

Not yet in force

Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.

民法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律

The whole text as it will read, on e-Gov

The date on which the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc. (Act No. 45 of 2026) comes into force. The exact day is not fixed yet.

See what it changes (8 provisions)

2 amendments already in force

24 June 2026
The text on this site
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.
民法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 January 2007
e-Gov gives no title for this amendment
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

Who it applies to

It applies to

Anyone — a person or a business — whose capacity, contract, claim, property, family relationship, guardianship or inheritance raises the question of which country's law governs it; the Act states the rule for each kind of matter.(Art. 4(1), Art. 7(1), Art. 13(1), Art. 14(1), Art. 17(1), Art. 23(1), Art. 24(1), Art. 35(1), Art. 36(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Consumers and the businesses that contract with them, and workers and their employers under a labor contract, for whom Articles 11 and 12 set rules of their own.(Art. 11(1), Art. 12(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

1 more

Every Act (法律), for the day it takes effect where it sets no day of its own.(Art. 2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

It does not apply to

Duties of support (扶養の義務) arising between spouses, parents and children and other relatives: the Act's rules on governing law (準拠法) do not apply to them, except the main rule of Article 39 (an unknown habitual residence is replaced by residence).(Art. 43(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
The form (方式) of a will: the Act's rules on governing law (準拠法) do not apply to it, except the main rules of Article 38(2) and Article 39 and Article 40.(Art. 43(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

Special rules and exceptions (8)

In a contract between a consumer — an individual not contracting as or for a business — and a business — a company or other body, or an individual contracting as or for a business — other than a labor contract, the consumer may tell the business that specific mandatory provisions (強行規定) of the law of the consumer's habitual residence () are to apply, and they then apply as well, even where another law was chosen or later switched to; with no choice, the law of the consumer's habitual residence governs the contract. This does not hold where the business's office for the contract is in a place under a law different from the consumer's habitual residence and the consumer went to a place under that office's law to make the contract, or received or was to receive all performance in such a place — unless the business had solicited them at home to do so. Nor does it hold where the business had good reason not to know the consumer's habitual residence, or to take them for someone who was not a consumer.(Art. 11(1), Art. 11(2), Art. 11(6)) (the provisions it rests on)
The form (方式) of a consumer contract has rules of its own. Where a law other than that of the consumer's habitual residence (常居所) was chosen, the consumer may tell the business that specific mandatory provisions (強行規定) of their habitual residence law are to apply to the form, and only those provisions then apply to the matters they cover; where that law was chosen, the consumer may tell the business the form is to follow it alone. With no choice of law, the form follows the law of the consumer's habitual residence — in each case except where the consumer rules do not apply, as above.(Art. 11(3), Art. 11(4), Art. 11(5), Art. 11(6)) (the provisions it rests on)
Where the law chosen for a labor contract, or later switched to, is not the law of the place most closely connected with it, the worker may tell the employer that specific mandatory provisions (強行規定) of that place's law are to apply, and they then apply as well. That place is presumed to be where the work is to be done, or, if that cannot be identified, where the office that hired the worker is. With no choice of law, the same place is presumed the most closely connected with the contract.(Art. 12(1), Art. 12(2), Art. 12(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
A claim for injury to life, body or property caused by a defect in a delivered product, against anyone who as a business produced, processed, imported, exported, distributed or sold it, or who labelled it so as to appear its producer, follows the law of the place where the victim received the product; if delivery there could not ordinarily be foreseen, it follows the law of that person's principal place of business, or of their habitual residence (常居所) if they have no place of business. A claim for harm to another's reputation or credit follows the law of the victim's habitual residence, or, for a company or other body, of its principal place of business. Either rule gives way where another place is obviously more closely connected with the tort.(Art. 18(1), Art. 19(1), Art. 20(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Where a foreign law governs a tort, nothing can be claimed under it for facts that are not unlawful under Japanese law. Even where they are unlawful under both, the victim can claim only the damages or other remedies Japanese law allows.(Art. 22(1), Art. 22(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
A provision of a foreign law that would otherwise govern is not applied where applying it would be contrary to public order or good morals (公序).(Art. 42(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Where a person's national law () governs and that country's law itself points to Japanese law, Japanese law applies (反致, renvoi). This does not hold for the effects of marriage, marital property, divorce or the parent-child relationship.(Art. 41(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
This Act wholly revised the former Act on the application of laws (法例, Act No. 10 of 1898) and came into force on a day set by Cabinet Order (政令); it applies to matters arising before that day too, except as follows. For a juridical act made before that day, the former rules still decide its parties' capacity (in place of Article 4) and its formation, effect and form (in place of Articles 8 to 12), and so they do for claims from managing another's affairs or unjust enrichment whose facts arose, and from torts whose result occurred, before that day (in place of Articles 15 to 21). The former rules also still apply to guardianship and disappearance rulings applied for before that day, to assignments of claims made before it, and to the form of some family-law acts made before it.(Enacting Stmt. 1, Suppl. Prov. Art. 1(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(2), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(3), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(4), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(5), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(6)) (the provisions it rests on)

How it is enforced (4)

Rather than placing duties on anyone, the Act states which country's law governs a matter — the governing law (準拠法) — and that law decides the parties' rights and duties. Where a court may itself make rulings under Japanese law, Articles 5, 6 and 35 say so.(Art. 1(1), Art. 5(1), Art. 6(1), Art. 6(2), Art. 7(1), Art. 35(2), Art. 36(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Until the change takes effect, 23 December 2028 at the latest: A court may, applying Japanese law, make a ruling commencing guardianship, curatorship or assistance (後見開始の審判等) for a person who has a domicile or residence in Japan, or Japanese nationality. Guardianship, curatorship and assistance (後見等) are otherwise governed by the national law (本国法) of the person placed under them. For a foreign national under them, a court applies Japanese law to appoint a guardian, curator or assistant and make other rulings on it where their national law gives grounds for it and no one in Japan carries out its duties, or where a ruling commencing it was made in Japan.(Art. 5(1), Art. 35(1), Art. 35(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
From a day still to be set, 23 December 2028 at the latest: From the day the Act amending the Civil Code and other Acts (Act No. 45 of 2026), a separate Act, comes into force, a court may, applying Japanese law, make a ruling commencing assistance (補助開始の審判) for a person who has a domicile or residence in Japan, or Japanese nationality. Guardianship of minors and assistance (未成年後見等) are then governed by the national law (本国法) of the minor ward or the person under assistance, and for a foreign national a court applies Japanese law to appoint a guardian of a minor or an assistant and make other rulings where their national law gives grounds and no one in Japan carries out the duties, or where a ruling commencing assistance was made in Japan. Adult wards (成年被後見人) and persons under curatorship (被保佐人) whom that Act's transitional rules keep under the former rules, and their guardians (成年後見人), curators (保佐人) and the supervisors of each (成年後見監督人, 保佐監督人), stay under this Act's former wording: guardianship and curatorship follow the ward's national law, with Japanese law for appointing a guardian or curator and other rulings in the cases above.(Art. 5(1), Art. 35(1), Art. 35(2), Suppl. Prov. Art. 1(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
A court may, applying Japanese law, make an adjudication of disappearance (失踪の宣告) for a missing person who, when last known to be alive, had a domicile in Japan or Japanese nationality. Otherwise it may do so only for the missing person's property in Japan, or for a legal relationship of theirs that is governed by Japanese law or otherwise connected with Japan.(Art. 6(1), Art. 6(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

How it connects to other laws

It does not cite, and is not cited by, any other law held here.

It also names 1 law not yet held here.

Where the translation comes from

The Ministry of Justice's translation is shown only where the Japanese it translates matches the law in force today. Everywhere else the English is a machine translation, marked on the paragraph itself.

Only the Japanese is the law, and no lawyer has reviewed the machine translation.

Sources

Everything this page rests on

e-Gov (Digital Agency)法の適用に関する通則法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24Original
e-Gov (Digital Agency)法の適用に関する通則法 — revision historyOriginal
Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of JusticeAct on General Rules for Application of Laws — Ministry of Justice translationOriginal
Machine translation, not official
Written for this site with AIEnglish titles of amending laws, written for this site
Written for this site with AIDescriptions of each law, written for this site
Written for this site with AICorrections to the Ministry of Justice's English of paragraphs
Worked out by this site from e-Gov's text

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