Code of Civil Procedure

If any of the following circumstances are present, a party may protest a final judgment that has become final and binding through a demand for a retrial; provided, however, that this does not apply if a party, when filing the appeal to the court of second instance or the final appeal, alleged those circumstances or knew of them but did not allege them:

the court that pronounced judgment was not composed in accordance with the law;

a judge who, by law, is not permitted to participate in the judgment, has participated in the judgment;

the authority to act as a person's legal representative, authority to act as a person's litigation representative, or the delegation of powers that a representative needs in order to perform procedural acts was lacking;

a judge who participated in the judgment has committed a crime in connection with their duties in the case;

another person's criminally punishable act has caused the party to make an admission or prevented the party from advancing allegations or evidence that would have influenced the judgment;

a document or other object used as evidence toward the judgment was forged or altered, or an electronic or magnetic record used as evidence toward the judgment was created in an unlawful way;

a false statement by a witness, expert, or interpreter, or by a party or legal representative who had been sworn in, was used as evidence toward the judgment;

the civil or criminal judgment or other judicial decision, or the administrative disposition, on which the judgment in question was based has been modified by a subsequent judicial decision or administrative disposition;

there has been an omission involving a determination with regard to a matter of material import that would have influenced the judgment;

the judgment that the protest concerns conflicts with a previous judgment that has become final and binding.

If any of the circumstances stated in items (iv) through (vii) of the preceding paragraph exists, a party may demand a retrial only if a guilty verdict or decision imposing a civil fine for the relevant criminally publishable act has become final and binding, or if the reason that it is not possible to obtain a final and binding guilty verdict or final and binding decision imposing a civil fine for that act is something other than a lack of evidence.

If the court of second instance has reached a judgment on the merits of a case, it is not permissible to demand a retrial over the judgment of the court of first instance.

If the circumstances prescribed in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article are present with regard to the judicial decision based on which a judgment is made (limited to the case prescribed in paragraph (2) of that Article if any of the circumstances stated in items (iv) through (vii) of that paragraph are present), such circumstances may be given as grounds for retrial in connection with the judgment, even if the means of filing an independent protest against that judicial decision have been specified.

A demand for a retrial is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the court that has reached the judgment that the protest concerns.

Demands for a retrial over judgments entered by courts of different instances with regard to the same case are collectively subject to the jurisdiction of their superior court.

Unless contrary to their nature, provisions on litigation proceedings in each instance apply mutatis mutandis to litigation proceedings in a retrial.

A retrial must be demanded within an inalterable time frame of 30 days from the day on which a party has become aware of the grounds for retrial, after the judgment has become final and binding.

It is not permissible to demand a retrial once five years have elapsed from the day on which the judgment becomes final and binding (or, if grounds for retrial occur after the judgment becomes final and binding, the day on which the grounds for retrial occur).

The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs do not apply to a demand for a retrial filed on the grounds of a lack of representative authority, which is among the circumstances stated in Article 338, paragraph (1), item (iii), nor do they apply to the circumstances stated in Article 338, paragraph (1), item (x).

The following particulars must be entered in the complaint demanding the retrial:

the parties and legal representatives;

a representation of the judgment that the protest concerns, and an indication that this is the judgment over which the retrial is being demanded;

the grounds for protest.

The party that has demanded a retrial may amend the grounds for protest.

If a demand for a retrial is not in accordance with the law, the court must rule to deny it.

If there are no grounds for retrial, the court must rule to dismiss the claims for retrial.

Once a ruling as referred to in the preceding paragraph becomes final and binding, it is not permissible to further demand a retrial with the same circumstances as grounds for protest.

If there are grounds for a retrial, the court must rule to commence the retrial.

Before issuing the ruling referred to in the preceding paragraph, the court must hear the adverse party.

An immediate appeal may be filed against a ruling as referred to in Article 345, paragraph (1) or (2) and paragraph (1) of the preceding Article.

When a ruling to commence a retrial becomes final and binding, the court conducts a trial and reaches a judicial decision on the merits, within the bounds of the party's protest.

In a case as referred to in the preceding paragraph, if the court finds that the judgment in question is just, it must dismiss the claims for retrial.

Except in a case as referred to in the preceding paragraph, the court must set aside the judgment and reach another judicial decision.

A party may demand a retrial over a ruling or order that has become final and binding and against which a protest may be entered through the filing of an immediate appeal.

The provisions of Article 338 through the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to a demand as referred to in the preceding paragraph.