Code of Civil Procedure

If a miscalculation, clerical error, or any other similar mistake that is clearly an error has been made in a disposition that fixes the amount under the provisions of Article 71, paragraph (1), Article 72 or paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, the court clerk, upon petition or sua sponte, may correct the disposition at any time.

The provisions of Article 71, paragraphs (4) through (6) and paragraph (8) apply mutatis mutandis to a corrective action under the provisions of the preceding paragraph and to the filing of any objection to it.

If a lawful objection is filed against a disposition that fixes the amount prescribed in paragraph (1), the objection under the preceding paragraph may not be filed.

If a plaintiff is not domiciled in Japan or does not have a business office or other office in Japan, at the petition of the defendant, the court must issue a ruling ordering the plaintiff to provide security for court costs. The same applies if that security becomes insufficient.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply if there is no dispute over part of a claim for the payment of money and the amount of that part of the claim is sufficient as security.

Once a defendant has presented an oral argument on the merits or entered a statement in preparatory proceedings after having learned that there are grounds for security to be provided, the defendant may not file the petition referred to in paragraph (1).

A defendant filing a petition under paragraph (1) may refuse to appear until the plaintiff provides security.

In the ruling stated in paragraph (1), the court must specify the amount of security and the time frame for providing security.

The amount of security is specified on the basis of the total amount of court costs the defendant would need to pay in all instances.

An immediate appeal may be filed against a ruling on a petition under paragraph (1).

In providing security, money or securities (including book-entry transfer bonds prescribed in Article 278, paragraph (1) of the Act on Book-Entry Transfer of Corporate Bonds and Shares (Act No. 75 of 2001); the same applies in the following Article) that the court considers appropriate must be deposited with an official depository within the territorial jurisdiction of the district court of jurisdiction in the locality of the court that orders the security to be provided, or must be provided by another means specified by the Rules of the Supreme Court; provided, however, that if the parties have entered into a special contract, that contract prevails.

A defendant has the right to receive payment for court costs, in preference to other creditors, from the money or securities deposited pursuant to the provisions of the preceding Article.

If a plaintiff fails to provide security within the time frame during which it is required to be provided, the court may enter a judgment denying the action, without hearing oral arguments; provided, however, that this does not apply if the plaintiff provides security before that a judgment is entered.

If a person providing security proves that the grounds for providing security have ceased to exist, the court, upon petition, must rule to release that security.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph also apply if a person providing security proves that the person has obtained the consent of the security interest holder for the release of the security.

If, after the conclusion of litigation, the court clerk, at the petition of the person providing the security, requests that the security interest holder exercise the right to the security within a certain time frame and the security interest holder fails to do so, the security interest holder is deemed to consent to the release of the security.

An immediate appeal may be filed against a ruling under the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2).

At the petition of a person providing the security, the court may issue a ruling ordering the substitution of that security; provided, however, that this does not preclude other security from being substituted for that security pursuant to a contract.

The provisions of Article 75, paragraphs (4), (5), and (7) and Articles 76 through the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to any security that is required to be provided pursuant to other laws and regulations for the filing of an action.

The court, upon petition, may issue a ruling granting legal aid to a person lacking the financial resources to pay the expenses necessary for preparing for and conducting litigation, or to a person for whom paying those expenses would cause substantial adversity in daily life; provided, however, that this applies only if the person has some chance of winning the case.

Rulings granting legal aid are issued separately for each instance.

A ruling granting legal aid has the following effects with regard to litigation and enforcement, in line with what is provided for in the ruling:

a grace period for the payment of court costs, as well as for fees for a court enforcement officer and expenses necessary for the performance of the duties of the same;

a grace period for the payment of compensation and expenses for an attorney at law that is ordered by the court to help the person that has been granted legal aid;

exemption from providing security for court costs.

A ruling granting legal aid is only valid for assisting the person in whose favor the ruling is issued.

The court issues a ruling ordering any successor to litigation to pay expenses and costs for which a grace period for payment has been given.

If a person in whose favor a ruling granting legal aid is issued is found not to meet the requirements prescribed in the main clause of Article 82, paragraph (1) or comes to no longer meet those requirements, the court that has the case record on file may at any time, upon at the petition of an interested party or sua sponte, issue a ruling setting aside the ruling that granted the person legal aid, and order the person to pay any expenses and costs for which a grace period has been given.

Expenses and costs in respect of which a person in whose favor a ruling granting legal aid is issued is given a payment grace period may be collected directly from the adverse party that it has been decided will bear those expenses and costs. To do so, an attorney at law or a court enforcement officer, on behalf of the person in whose favor the ruling granting legal aid has been issued, may file a petition stated in Article 71, paragraph (1), Article 72 or Article 73, paragraph (1) or carry out judicial enforcement with regard to compensation or fees and expenses and costs.

An immediate appeal may be filed against a ruling prescribed in this Section.