# 法の適用に関する通則法 / Act on General Rules for Application of Laws — 第八条 (Article 8) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-8. Every law, and how to address a provision: https://japanlaw.org/llms.txt. The same laws as MCP tools (no sign-in): https://japanlaw.org/mcp. - Law: 法の適用に関する通則法 (Act on General Rules for Application of Laws), 平成十八年法律第七十八号 - English title "Act on General Rules for Application of Laws": Ministry of Justice translation - Kind: Act — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say. - Provision: 第八条 (Article 8)（当事者による準拠法の選択がない場合） — address `art-8` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-8 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000078/art-8 - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it. - Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below. Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names. They are never merged and never substituted for one another. --- ### 第八条（当事者による準拠法の選択がない場合） — (In the Absence of Choice of Governing Law by the Parties) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-8 · https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-8 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000078/art-8 **第一項** 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。 art-8/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-8/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000078/art-8/par-1 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. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 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。 art-8/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-8/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000078/art-8/par-2 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. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "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 the 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." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3783/tb **第三項** 第一項の場合において、不動産を目的物とする法律行為については、前項の規定にかかわらず、その不動産の所在地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。 art-8/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-8/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000078/art-8/par-3 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. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-8/par-1: 前条 → 法の適用に関する通則法 第七条 (Article 7), art-7 — https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-7 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000078/art-7 - art-8/par-2: 前項 → 法の適用に関する通則法 第八条第一項 (Article 8, paragraph (1)), art-8/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-8/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000078/art-8/par-1 - art-8/par-3: 第一項 → 法の適用に関する通則法 第八条第一項 (Article 8, paragraph (1)), art-8/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-8/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000078/art-8/par-1 - art-8/par-3: 前項 → 法の適用に関する通則法 第八条第二項 (Article 8, paragraph (2)), art-8/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-8/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000078/art-8/par-2 ## Cited by 5 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 法の適用に関する通則法 第八条第二項（当事者による準拠法の選択がない場合） — https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-8/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000078/art-8/par-2 - 法の適用に関する通則法 第八条第三項（当事者による準拠法の選択がない場合） — https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-8/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000078/art-8/par-3 - 法の適用に関する通則法 第十一条第二項（消費者契約の特例） — https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-11/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000078/art-11/par-2 - 法の適用に関する通則法 第十二条第三項（労働契約の特例） — https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-12/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000078/art-12/par-3 - 法の適用に関する通則法 附則第三条第三項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/suppl-4181-78/art-3/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000078/suppl-4181-78/art-3/par-3 --- ## Sources - claude-opus-5-5 — Corrections to the Ministry of Justice's English of paragraphs, written 2026-10-03 - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 法の適用に関する通則法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/418AC0000000078/20260624_508AC0000000046), retrieved 2026-10-03 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Act on General Rules for Application of Laws (法の適用に関する通則法), Article 8, paragraph (2) — the Ministry of Justice's English as printed (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3783/tb), retrieved 2026-10-03 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Act on General Rules for Application of Laws — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3783/tb), retrieved 2026-10-03 - This site's parser, version 213 — 法の適用に関する通則法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-03