Changes on a date not yet set (Act No. 46 of 2026)
The provisions of Article 5, paragraphs (1) and (2) of the Civil Code and of Article 9, Article 13, and Article 17 of that Code, as well as the provisions of Article 31 of the Code of Civil Procedure and of Article 32, paragraph (1) (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 40, paragraph (4) of that Code) and Article 32, paragraph (2) of that Code do not apply to procedural acts in personal status litigation proceedings.
If a person with a limited capacity to engage in procedural acts seeks to engage in procedural acts under the preceding paragraph, the presiding judge, upon petition, may appoint an attorney as the person's counsel if found necessary to do so.
訴訟行為につき行為能力の制限を受けた者が前項の訴訟行為をしようとする場合において、必要があると認めるときは、裁判長は、申立てにより、弁護士を訴訟代理人に選任することができる。
If a person with a limited capacity to engage in procedural acts does not file the petition under the preceding paragraph, the presiding judge may still order appointment of an attorney as the person's counsel, or may appoint an attorney as the person's counsel sua sponte.
訴訟行為につき行為能力の制限を受けた者が前項の申立てをしない場合においても、裁判長は、弁護士を訴訟代理人に選任すべき旨を命じ、又は職権で弁護士を訴訟代理人に選任することができる。
The amount of remuneration the person with a limited capacity to engage in procedural acts is to pay to the attorney appointed by the presiding judge as the person’s counsel pursuant to the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs is to be the amount the court finds reasonable.
前二項の規定により裁判長が訴訟代理人に選任した弁護士に対し当該訴訟行為につき行為能力の制限を受けた者が支払うべき報酬の額は、裁判所が相当と認める額とする。
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personal status litigation
「人事訴訟」
Litigation on a personal status action (人事に関する訴え): an action through which a person seeks to form a personal status relationship (身分関係) or a declaration whether one exists, such as an action to nullify or rescind a marriage, an action for divorce, an action to rebut the presumption of legitimacy, an action for filiation, an action to nullify or rescind an adoption, or an action to confirm whether a marital, parent-child or adoptive relationship exists.
Defined inArticle 2, paragraph (1)· applies throughout the law
litigation representative
訴訟代理人
A person who carries on a lawsuit on behalf of a party. Apart from an agent whom a law or regulation allows to act in court, only an attorney (弁護士) may be one, though in a summary court (簡易裁判所) the court may permit someone who is not an attorney to be one, and may revoke that permission at any time (Code of Civil Procedure, Article 54). In the case entrusted to them, a litigation representative may carry out the procedural acts for a counterclaim (反訴), a third party joining the suit (参加) (Articles 42 and 47), compulsory execution (強制執行), and the provisional seizure (仮差押え) and provisional disposition (仮処分) that preserve a right sued on, or set a provisional position, in a civil lawsuit (Civil Provisional Remedies Act, Article 1), and may receive payment (Code of Civil Procedure, Article 55, paragraph (1)), but needs special authority to file a counterclaim, withdraw the action, settle, give up the party's claim or accept the other side's (請求の放棄又は認諾), file an appeal to the court of second instance (控訴), a final appeal (上告) or a petition to the Supreme Court to accept a final appeal, or withdraw any of these, and appoint a representative, among others (paragraph (2)); their authority cannot be restricted, unless they are not an attorney (paragraph (3)). Where there are several, each represents the party alone, and an arrangement by the party to the contrary has no effect (Article 56); a statement of fact a litigation representative makes has no effect if the party at once retracts or corrects it (Article 57). The authority does not end because the party dies or loses the capacity to sue or be sued, a corporate party ceases to exist by merger, or the party's legal representative (法定代理人) dies or loses their authority, among other events (Article 58, paragraph (1)). Where the authority is lacking, the court must order it put right within a set period, an act done without it takes effect from the time it was done once ratified, and the authority's ending has no effect until the party or the representative notifies the other party (Article 59, applying Article 34, paragraphs (1) and (2), and Article 36, paragraph (1)). A litigation representative entrusted with a case, other than one acting with a summary court's permission, must as a rule make filings in it through the courts' electronic system, and must register to be served (送達) through it (Article 132-11, paragraphs (1) and (2)).
Written by AI using Code of Civil Procedure, Arts. 34, 36, 42, 47, 54 to 59, 132-11 and Civil Provisional Remedies Act, Art. 1 as a reference.