With regard to an offense prosecutable upon a criminal complaint, no criminal complaint may be made after the lapse of six months from the day on which the complainant knew the offender; provided, however, that this does not apply to a criminal complaint made by the representative of a foreign state pursuant to the provisions of Article 232, paragraph (2) of the Penal Code, or a criminal complaint made with regard to the crime under Article 230 or 231 of the same Code against a foreign mission sent to Japan by the mission.
親告罪の告訴は、犯人を知つた日から六箇月を経過したときは、これをすることができない。ただし、刑法第二百三十二条第二項の規定により外国の代表者が行う告訴及び日本国に派遣された外国の使節に対する同法第二百三十条又は第二百三十一条の罪につきその使節が行う告訴については、この限りでない。
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complaint
告訴
A crime's victim telling a public prosecutor or a judicial police officer (司法警察員) of the crime and asking that the offender be punished; the victim may file one (Code of Criminal Procedure, Articles 230 and 241, paragraph (1)). The victim's legal representative may also file one, and if the victim has died, their spouse, lineal relatives or siblings, though not against the victim's clearly stated wishes (Article 231). For some crimes — among them defamation and insult, and negligent injury — a prosecution cannot be brought without a complaint (Penal Code, Articles 209, paragraph (2), and 232, paragraph (1)); for those, a complaint must as a rule be filed within six months of learning who the offender is, though not one a foreign state's representative or a foreign envoy files over defamation or insult (Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 235), and it may be withdrawn until a prosecution is brought, but not filed again (Article 237).
Written by AI using Code of Criminal Procedure, Arts. 230, 231, 235, 237, 241 and Penal Code, Arts. 209, 232 as a reference.