# 民法 / Civil Code — 第四百四十一条 (Article 441) - 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: 第四百四十一条 (Article 441)（相対的効力の原則） — address `art-441` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-441 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-441 - 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. --- ### 第四百四十一条（相対的効力の原則） — (Principle of Relative Effect) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-441 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-441 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-441 **第一項** 第四百三十八条、第四百三十九条第一項及び前条に規定する場合を除き、連帯債務者の一人について生じた事由は、他の連帯債務者に対してその効力を生じない。ただし、債権者及び他の連帯債務者の一人が別段の意思を表示したときは、当該他の連帯債務者に対する効力は、その意思に従う。 art-441/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-441/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-441/par-1 Except in cases prescribed in Articles 438, Article 439, paragraph (1), and the preceding Article, any circumstances which have arisen with respect to one of the joint and several obligors is not effective in relation to other joint and several obligors; provided, however, that if the obligee and one of the other joint and several obligors manifest a different intention, their intention prevails with respect to the effect in relation to the remaining other joint and several obligees. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-441/par-1: 第四百三十八条 → 民法 第四百三十八条 (Article 438), art-438 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-438 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-438 - art-441/par-1: 第四百三十九条第一項 → 民法 第四百三十九条第一項 (Article 439, paragraph (1)), art-439/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-439/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-439/par-1 - art-441/par-1: 前条 → 民法 第四百四十条 (Article 440), art-440 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-440 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-440 ## Cited by 2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 国税通則法 第八条第一項（国税の連帯納付義務についての民法の準用） — https://japanlaw.org/en/national-tax-general-rules-act/art-8/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/337AC0000000066/art-8/par-1 - 民法 第四百五十八条第一項（連帯保証人について生じた事由の効力） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-458/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-458/par-1 --- ## 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