# 民法 / Civil Code — 第一条 (Article 1)

- Law: 民法 (Civil Code), 明治二十九年法律第八十九号
- English title "Civil Code": 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: 第一条 (Article 1)（基本原則） — address `art-1`
- Text in force since: 2026-06-24
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-1
- Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-1
- 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.

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### 第一条（基本原則） — (Fundamental Principles)
<sup>caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>
<sup>art-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-1</sup>

  **第一項**  私権は、公共の福祉に適合しなければならない。
  <sup>art-1/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-1/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-1/par-1</sup>
  Private rights must be congruent with the public welfare.
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

  **第二項**  権利の行使及び義務の履行は、信義に従い誠実に行わなければならない。
  <sup>art-1/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-1/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-1/par-2</sup>
  The exercise of rights and performance of duties must be done in good faith.
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

  **第三項**  権利の濫用は、これを許さない。
  <sup>art-1/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-1/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-1/par-3</sup>
  Abuse of rights is not permitted.
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

## Cited by

2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction.

- 民法 第五百四十八条の二第二項（定型約款の合意） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-548-2/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-548-2/par-2
- 消費者契約法 第十条第一項（消費者の利益を一方的に害する条項の無効） — https://japanlaw.org/en/consumer-contract-act/art-10/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/412AC0000000061/art-10/par-1

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## Sources

- e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 民法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/129AC0000000089/20260624_508AC0000000045), retrieved 2026-10-11
- Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Civil Code — Ministry of Justice translation (part 1 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4848/tb), retrieved 2026-10-11
- This site's parser, version 190 — 民法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-11