In the absence of a choice of law under the preceding Article, the formation and effect of a juridical act are governed by the law of the place with which the act is most closely connected at the time of the act.
前条の規定による選択がないときは、法律行為の成立及び効力は、当該法律行為の当時において当該法律行為に最も密接な関係がある地の法による。
In the case referred to in the preceding paragraph, if only one of the parties is to provide a characteristic performance involved in a juridical act, the law of the habitual residence of the party providing the performance (in cases where the relevant party has a place of business connected with the juridical act, the law of the place of business; in cases where the relevant party has two or more places of business which are connected with the juridical act and which are governed by different laws, the law of the principal place of business) is presumed to be the law of the place with which the act is most closely connected.
前項の場合において、法律行為において特徴的な給付を当事者の一方のみが行うものであるときは、その給付を行う当事者の常居所地法（その当事者が当該法律行為に関係する事業所を有する場合にあっては当該事業所の所在地の法、その当事者が当該法律行為に関係する二以上の事業所で法を異にする地に所在するものを有する場合にあってはその主たる事業所の所在地の法）を当該法律行為に最も密接な関係がある地の法と推定する。
In the case referred to in paragraph (1), if the subject matter of the juridical act is real property, notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the law of the place where the real property is situated (lex rei sitae)is presumed to be the law of the place with which the act is most closely connected.
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habitual residence
常居所
The place where a person habitually lives; the Act on General Rules for Application of Laws uses the term without defining it. That Act makes the law of a person's habitual residence govern, among other things: for a consumer contract, the law of the consumer's habitual residence where the parties chose no law, and its specific mandatory rules the consumer tells the business to apply where they chose another, except in the cases Article 11, paragraph (6) lists, such as a consumer who went to a place under the same law as the business's office the contract relates to and made the contract there, unless the business had invited them, where they habitually live, to make it there (Article 11); for a tort of defamation, the law of the victim's habitual residence (Article 19); for the effects of a marriage, the law of the habitual residence the spouses share where they do not share a national law (本国法) (Article 25), which also governs matrimonial property and divorce, though a divorce where one spouse is a Japanese national habitually resident in Japan is governed by Japanese law (Articles 26 and 27); for the legal relationship between parents and child, the law of the child's habitual residence where the child's national law is not that of either parent (Article 32); and, for a person with no nationality, the law of their habitual residence in place of a national law (Article 38, paragraph (2)). Where a person's habitual residence is not known, the law of the place where they are living (居所) is applied instead, except under the rule on the effects of a marriage, which also governs matrimonial property and divorce (Article 39).
Written by AI using Act on General Rules for Application of Laws, Arts. 11, 19, 25, 26, 27, 32, 38, 39 as a reference.