Civil Enforcement Act

A person who has filed a petition, made an offer, or filed a notification with an enforcement court in connection with a civil enforcement procedure, or been served with a document by an enforcement court in connection with a civil enforcement procedure must notify the enforcement court of the place (limited to within Japan) at which they are to be served. In this case, the person may also notify the enforcement court of the designated person to be served.

The provisions of Article 104, paragraphs (2) and (3) and Article 107 of the Code of Civil Procedure apply mutatis mutandis to the cases referred to in the first sentence of the preceding paragraph.

Service on a person who has not filed a notification under the first sentence of paragraph (1) (excluding the person prescribed in Article 104, paragraph (3) of the Code of Civil Procedure as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to the preceding paragraph) is to be made at the person's domicile, residence, business office, or office that is indicated in the case record.

If service under the preceding paragraph is to be effected but it is not possible to effect service pursuant to the provisions of Article 106 of the Code of Civil Procedure as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 20, the court clerk may send the document to the domicile, residence, business office, or office referred to in the preceding paragraph by registered mail or using services for delivering correspondence that are prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (2) of the Act on Correspondence Delivery by Private Business Operators (Act No. 99 of 2002) that are provided by a general correspondence delivery provider prescribed in paragraph (6) of that Article or specified correspondence delivery provider prescribed in paragraph (9) of that Article and that are specified by the Rules of the Supreme Court as services equivalent to registered mail. In this case, the provisions of Article 107, paragraphs (2) and (3) of the Code of Civil Procedure apply mutatis mutandis.

Service by publication in a civil enforcement procedure is to be made by the court clerk keeping the document to be served and posting, on the court's bulletin board, a notice to the effect that the document is to be delivered to the person to be served at any time.

An interested person, in connection with the civil enforcement that the enforcement court carries out, may file a request with the court clerk to inspect or copy the case record, to be issued an authenticated copy, transcript, or extract of the record, or to be issued a certificate of matters relating to the case.

If necessary for civil enforcement purposes, the enforcement court or court enforcement officer may request a government agency or public office for assistance.

In a case provided for in the preceding paragraph, the enforcement court or court enforcement officer may request the government agency or public office with jurisdiction a certificate it needs concerning taxes or other relevant public charges imposed on the property that is the subject matter of civil enforcement (this includes any building that stands on that property, if the property is land, and includes the site on which the property stands, if the property is a building).

The provisions of the preceding paragraph apply mutatis mutandis if a person who seeks to file a petition for civil enforcement needs the certificate referred to in that paragraph for filing that petition.

A person that is required to submit or present a certificate of recorded information (meaning a document that states the matters recorded in a file stored on a computer used by the court (simply referred to as a "file" below) and certified by the court clerk to contain information identical to the matters recorded in the relevant file; the same applies below) related to the matters stated in the following items to a court, court clerk, or court enforcement officer in civil enforcement proceedings pursuant to the provisions of this Act, in lieu of that submission or presentation, may submit the information prescribed by the Rules of the Supreme Court as information necessary for identifying the matters stated in the relevant item below, pursuant to the provisions of the Rules of the Supreme Court. In this case, the person is deemed to have submitted or presented the relevant certificate of recorded information.

judicial decisions;

disposition by a court clerk;

judicial settlements or mediation;

beyond what is referred in the preceding three items, a document or an electronic or magnetic record that has the same effect as a final and binding judgment; and

electronic records (meaning electronic or magnetic records prepared by a court clerk pursuant to the provisions of Article 160, paragraph (1) of the Code of Civil Procedure (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to other laws and regulations) or other laws and regulations to record and publicly authenticate the formality, details, progress, etc. of proceedings on a court date or any other date; the same applies in Article 39, paragraph (1), items (iv) and (iv)-2 and Article 167-2, paragraph (1), item (iv)) certifying that a title of obligation prescribed in Article 22, items (ii) through (iv)-2 is withdrawn or is not valid for other reasons.

The court's jurisdiction provided for in this Act is exclusive.

A petition or other statement in a civil enforcement procedure (referred to as a "motion or statement" in this Article) that, pursuant to the provisions of this Act or other laws and regulations concerning the motion or statement, is to be made through a document or other tangible medium (meaning a document, transcript, extract, authenticated copy, or duplicate of a document, duplicate of a bill or note, or any other paper or other tangible object into which information that can be perceived with the human senses, as characters and shapes, has been entered; the same applies in the following paragraph and paragraph (4)), and that is made to a court specified by the Supreme Court (including one made to that court's presiding judge, authorized judge, commissioned judge, or court clerk), may be made, notwithstanding the provisions of those laws and regulations, by using an electronic data processing system (meaning an electronic data processing system connecting a computer (including input and output devices; the same applies below) used by the court to a computer used by the person making the motion or statement via a telecommunications line) pursuant to the provisions of the Rules of the Supreme Court.

With regard to a motion or statement made pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the provisions of laws and regulations concerning the motion or statement are applied by deeming it to have been made through the document or other tangible medium prescribed in the provisions of the laws and regulations concerning the motion or statement that prescribe that the motion or statement is to be made through a document or other tangible medium.

A motion or statement made pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) is deemed to have reached the court referred to in that paragraph at the time when it is recorded in a file stored on the computer used by that court.

In the case referred to in paragraph (1), with regard to a motion or statement for which a signature, etc. (meaning signing, printing one's name, affixing one's seal, or otherwise stating one's name or trade name in a document or other tangible medium; the same applies below in this paragraph) is to be made pursuant to the provisions of other laws and regulations concerning the motion or statement, the person making the motion or statement must, notwithstanding the provisions of those laws and regulations, take measures to make clear the person's name or trade name in lieu of the signature, etc., pursuant to the provisions of the Rules of the Supreme Court.

When a motion or statement made pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) has been recorded in the file prescribed in paragraph (3), the court referred to in paragraph (1) must output the details of the information recorded in the file in the form of a document.

The inspection or copying of the case record, or the issuance of an authenticated copy, transcript, or extract of it, under the provisions of this Act or other laws and regulations in relation to a motion or statement made pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1), is to be made by means of the document referred to in the preceding paragraph. The same applies to the service or sending of documents relating to the motion or statement.

When preparing a written judgment for a judicial decision concerning a civil enforcement procedure, the written judgment must state the main text, the parties and statutory agents, and the court relating to the judicial decision.

When the written judgment referred to in the preceding paragraph is served, the service is to be made by an authenticated copy of that written judgment.

Except where there are special provisions, the provisions of Part I through Part IV of the Code of Civil Procedure (excluding Article 71, paragraph (2), Article 91-2, Article 92, paragraphs (9) and (10), Article 92-2, paragraph (2), Article 94, Article 100, paragraph (2), Part I, Chapter V, Section 4, Subsection 3, Article 111, Part I, Chapter VII, Article 133-2, paragraphs (5) and (6), Article 133-3, paragraph (2), Article 151, paragraph (3), Article 160, paragraph (2), Article 185, paragraph (3), Article 205, paragraph (2), Article 215, paragraph (2), Article 227, paragraph (2), and Article 232-2 of that Code) apply mutatis mutandis to a civil enforcement procedure to the extent that they are not contrary to its nature. In this case, the words listed in the middle column of Appended Table 1 in the provisions of that Code listed in the upper column of that table are deemed to be replaced with the words listed in the lower column of that table, respectively.

Beyond what is provided for in this Act, the Rules of the Supreme Court provide the necessary matters concerning civil enforcement procedures.

With regard to the procedure for a case relating to an action under Article 24 or Articles 33 through 35 that falls under the jurisdiction of a family court (referred to as "enforcement-related action procedure in a family court" in this Article), the provisions of Article 71, paragraph (2), Article 91-2, Article 92, paragraphs (9) and (10), Article 92-2, paragraph (2), Article 94, Article 100, paragraph (2), Part I, Chapter V, Section 4, Subsection 3, Article 111, Article 132-6, paragraph (3), Part I, Chapter VII, Article 133-2, paragraphs (5) and (6), Article 133-3, paragraph (2), Article 151, paragraph (3), Article 160, paragraph (2), Article 161, paragraph (3), item (iii), Article 185, paragraph (3), Article 205, paragraph (2), Article 215, paragraph (2), Article 227, paragraph (2), Article 232-2, Article 253, paragraph (2), and Article 267, paragraph (2) of the Code of Civil Procedure, and Part VII of that Code, do not apply.

With regard to the application of the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure to an enforcement-related action procedure in a family court, the words listed in the middle column of Appended Table 2 in the provisions of that Code listed in the upper column of that table are to be the words listed in the lower column of that table, respectively.

The provisions of Article 15-2, Article 16, paragraph (5) and Article 19-2 apply mutatis mutandis to an enforcement-related action procedure in a family court.